


Traitors and Saints

by niesbixby



Category: Fablehaven Series - Brandon Mull
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Angst, Angst with no happy ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Character who wants to watch the world burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Partner Betrayal, Partnership, Please Don't Kill Me, Pre-Canon, References to Canon, Slaying stuff, Vanessa is a nerd who can't tell emotions from illness, Warren has a lot of feelings, What Have I Done, What are Tags?, i'd like to apologize in advance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 02:28:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 26,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2092260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niesbixby/pseuds/niesbixby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Brandon Mull writes a throw away line about Warren and Vanessa working together in the Knights of the Dawn before his catatonic episode, then does a pair the spares for the finale, and I really cannot leave well enough alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Teaser- Warren hesitated. “I can say with some certainty that I am an equal opportunity categorizer, so you’ve got nothing to worry about on that front. Also, I think you’ll find I’m not so much of a sprout as you suspect.”  
Vanessa Santoro glanced down at her instructions, tucked a strand of dark hair behind an ear, and sighed. It said here that her next mission for the Knights of the Dawn would be completed with a partner. They were to travel to Four Pines, a reserve for magical creatures somewhere in Canada, and deal with a viviblix that was resurrecting dead creatures and using them as her slaves. It wasn’t the viviblix that made her nervous. She had dealt with a surprising number of blixes in her time, being one herself.  
No, it was the fact that she would be working with someone else that made the bottom drop out of her stomach. Vanessa had accustomed herself to working alone, and she certainly didn’t want to change that now. Men (because it would be a man, she had no doubt) treated her like a piece of pottery. Pretty to look at, but good for nothing but holding things. Like babies. She knew she was pretty. It had been the main reason she hadn’t gotten farther up.  
Women were scarce in the Knights of the Dawn, despite the modern conventions of the day. There was still something about fighting evil that made most women shrivel up with fear. Vanessa had had to fight for every inch she’d gained in the organization, and she refused to be saddled with some idiot male that would only slow her down. It would go against everything she had ever worked for.  
She glanced down at her watch. The flight to Toronto left in twenty minutes, and her mysterious partner still hadn’t shown. What was his name again? She checked the file. Oh, yeah. Warren. He was probably some middle aged man past the prime of his life, but just enough ego and leftover testosterone to make things difficult. Vanessa resolved to dislike him.  
“Vanessa Santoro?” a voice asked. Vanessa whipped her head up, murder in her eyes. If that damn flight attendant tried to get her to board the plane one more time- But it wasn’t the flight attendant at all. It was a young man, barely more than a teenager. He was ridiculously lanky, with a mop of brown hair and the most gorgeous hazel eyes she’d ever seen. He was dressed in combat boots, black skinny jeans, and a wine red button down. He had his hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans, and a manila folder was under his arm.  
“Yes?” she said abruptly. Great. She’d gotten saddled with a sprout. That was just perfect.  
The kid did his best not to look intimidated. “You are Vanessa, right?” She nodded. “Okay. I’m Warren Burgess. I’m supposed to be working with you on the Four Pines trip?”  
Vanessa sighed and fiddled with the collar of her leather jacket. “You’re late. We need to board the plane right now.”  
Warren opened his mouth. “What about the password?”  
“You really want to do that now?” He nodded. “Fine. Fairystruck.”  
“Eternals.”  
“You happy? Then let’s go.” Vanessa grabbed Warren by the arm and dragged him to the boarding counter. She presented her ticket, and with an elbow to the gut, so did Warren. The attendant gave them a suspicious look, but let them pass. Thank god.

A few minutes later, they were seated in business, Warren in the window seat and Vanessa in the aisle. Unlike most planes, there were only two seats per row, so there was no one else seated with them. Warren stared out the window as the plane took off, so obviously not asking her questions that Vanessa almost felt a little sorry for him.  
“How old are you, kid?” she asked.  
He glanced up from the fascinating view of cornfields. “I just turned nineteen a month ago. You?”  
“Twenty. How long have you been with the Knights?”  
Warren hesitated. “Two years.” Vanessa raised an eyebrow. The kid had been doing this since he was seventeen? Maybe she’d underestimated him a little bit. But she still had some seniority on him.  
“I’ve been with them for four.”  
“That’s a lot.” And they lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Vanessa pulled out her folder and started reading through the information, while Warren just stared out the window. Vanessa quickly finished the folder. So she dug a book out of her bag and barricaded herself behind it, ignoring Warren’s occasional glances in her direction.  
Eventually she got fed up. So she tossed down the book and glared at him. “What?”  
“Nothing.”  
Vanessa picked up her book again and leafed through the pages to find her previous spot. She had just settled back into it when he asked, “So you’re the suspicious type. Good to know.”  
She set down her book and eyed him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”  
“It’s just that according to my personal philosophy, there are four types of people in the world. There’s the suspicious type (that’s you), the curious type (that’s me), the quiet type, and the loud type.” He smiled, seemingly proud at his little system. “I try to figure out what people are. And you seem to be very wary of me.” Warren preened for a second. “It could be because of my good looks, but more likely because you don’t trust me.”  
Vanessa stared at him. “What can I say? You seem to have me all figured out. And no, I don’t trust you.”  
“Why not?” he replied.  
“Because you’re a guy,” she retorted. “Men categorize and belittle me, and I can do this job perfectly well on my own, thank you very much. I didn’t ask to get saddled with some sprout who thinks he knows how the world works. And I’m not going to coddle you.”  
Warren hesitated. “I can say with some certainty that I am an equal opportunity categorizer, so you’ve got nothing to worry about on that front. Also, I think you’ll find I’m not so much of a sprout as you suspect.”  
Vanessa grunted, not convinced. “We’ll see about that.”  
A few hours later, they arrived at Four Pines via Jeep. Warren had been useful, to Vanessa’s surprise. Instead of being cowed by her, their interchange had seemed to encourage him to prove himself.  
Vanessa got out of the Jeep, dragging her bag behind her as she made her way to the front door of the house. She pushed the doorbell, and the door opened almost immediately. A tall woman with long, curly grey hair stood on the other side. “Yes?” she said abruptly.  
Vanessa did her best to paste a smile on her face. “Hi. I’m Vanessa Santoro and this is Warren Burgess. We’re here about the viviblix.”  
The woman’s tough demeanor dropped, and she smiled warmly. “I’m Susan. Please come in. I’m always so glad to meet any fellow Knights of the Dawn.” She pulled open the screen door, and the two followed her down the hall to a well kept kitchen with granite counters  
“You have a lovely home,” Warren commented. Vanessa shot him a look. Really? That was what he came up with?  
But Susan smiled. “Thank you, dear. Won’t you have a seat? I’ll get you something to munch on. You must be exhausted from your flight.” She walked into the kitchen and opened the freezer. Vanessa started looking around the room out of curiosity.  
A few seconds later, Warren coughed. She looked at him, and he jerked his chin towards the kitchen. Susan was digging through the fridge. She shrugged. Warren tilted his head, eyes wide. So she looked again. Vanessa’s eye twitched as she looked near the bottom of the fridge and saw a hand peeking out. She slipped off her backpack and quietly pulled her katana out of it. Warren bent down and pulled a rapier out of his satchel and held it behind his back, then started edging around the table to get a better look in the fridge.  
“So,” he said, making Susan jump. “Reanimate any good corpses lately?”  
Vanessa could have strangled him.  
Susan twitched. “What?”  
He gestured at the hand. “You’ve got a woman in your refrigerator. I assume you’re the blix?”  
A slow smile spread over her face. “You’re clever. I wasn’t expecting them to send someone clever. What are you going to do about it?”  
“Honestly, it wasn’t that hard. There’s a hand sticking out of the refrigerator.” Warren glanced over at Vanessa, and in that moment the viviblix gripped him by the throat and threw him with no small amount of force into one of the hardwood cabinets. He crashed to the floor, surrounded by tiny shards of wood, unconscious.  
Susan picked up his sword and twirled it lazily. She looked sidelong at Vanessa, who had risen to her feet on impulse and had her katana out in front of her. The blix turned to face her, slowly.  
“Shall we?” Susan said. Vanessa nodded. With that, she launched a series of attacks so quickly that Vanessa nearly didn’t block all of them. She would have to be careful. Susan was good. Possibly better than her. Vanessa made a cautious thrust, which Susan easily parried.  
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just call your undead minions and have them finish us off?” Vanessa asked.  
Susan laughed. “That wouldn’t be very sportsmanlike, would it? No, I try to give everyone a fair shot at life. You’re no different.” She started again, and Vanessa found herself almost panting. She had definitely never tried to best someone this good before. It was a truly novel experience.  
“Let me give you some advice, blix to blix,” she started, parrying a sword stroke. “I wouldn’t have messed with the Knights of the Dawn if I were you. They are infinitely stronger, and they don’t like it when someone tries to kill one of their own.”  
Susan raised an eyebrow. “You’re a blix? Why haven’t I heard of you?”  
“Narcoblix. And I tend to travel in different circles than viviblixes. I don’t like to breathe the same air as you.” Susan aimed a blow at the crosspiece of her katana, flinging out of her hand. “Well, crap.”  
Vanessa eyed the viviblix carefully. This had gone very bad. “Any last words?” Susan asked. She glanced surreptitiously at the counters behind Susan, where a hand was scrabbling around for something.  
“Yeah,” she said. “Ave atque vale.” Then she threw herself to the side as Susan plunged her sword into the air where Vanessa’s chest had been and Warren hit her over the head with a frying pan. Susan crumpled to the floor. Warren dropped the pan like it was molten hot and shook out his hands, all the while saying, “Ahhhhhhh,” in an extremely horrified manner.  
Vanessa stood. “I totally had that under control.”  
“You were at sword point. And you’re a blix?”  
She eyed him. “Problem with that?”  
Warren met her gaze. “No. Blixes aren’t problems unless they start abusing other people.” He glanced down at Susan. “What are we going to do about her?”  
“I’ll call my commander and ask him to come pick her up.” Vanessa pulled out her phone and started flipping through the contacts, stopping when she came to the name “East”. She hit the call button and held it up to her ear, listening to the phone ring.  
Finally East picked up. “Santoro,” he said, voice dripping with displeasure, “why are you calling me? You can’t be done this quickly. You should have just arrived.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Well, the viviblix was posing as the curator of the place, so it didn’t take us that long to dispatch her. She’s unconscious. Is there anyone in the area to pick her up?”  
He sighed. “I’ll send someone along within the hour. Keep her tied up, will you?” There was a pause. “You didn’t manage to get Warren killed, I hope?”  
“Your precious Warren is safe and sound.” Vanessa held out the phone to Warren. “Say hello.”  
“Hi!” Warren called cheerfully.  
Vanessa held the phone back up to her ear. “Yeah. He’s fine. So do you just want us to wait here?”  
“No, I want you to drive away right now. Of course I want you to stay there and wait. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to make some arrangements.” And with that, East hung up.  
She closed the phone and huffed with annoyance. “East can be a real jerk,” she muttered.  
Warren looked amused. “I kind of got that.” He looked down at the tips of his fingers. “You know, for a prickly narcoblix who’s lying to the Knights of the Dawn, you’re not all that bad.”  
“And for a kid with no subtlety who’s not very good with hitting people, I suppose you’re not that bad either.”  
“So what does that make us?” He hesitated. “Friends?”  
The corner of Vanessa’s mouth quirked upward in what on someone else, might have been the beginnings of a smile. “I don’t know if I would say friends. Maybe casual acquaintances.”  
“Oh, come on. I totally saved your life back there.” Vanessa raised an eyebrow, and Warren’s face practically split in two with a smile. “You made a joke. You?”  
“I make jokes,” she protested.  
“You hid behind a book for the greater portion of the flight out here.” He glanced up. “So, friends?”  
She mock-sighed. “I suppose, if you insist.” Behind them, Vanessa could hear a groan, accompanied by something that sounded like breaking glass. She winced.  
“You want to deal with that?” Warren asked sheepishly. Vanessa punched him in the shoulder, then went to deal with Susan. She supposed it could have been worse. She could have been put with someone less…enthusiastic.  
A/N-I enjoyed that. I really did. There’s not a lot of Fablehaven stuff on here, especially not Warren and Vanessa. I just reread some of the books and realized they’re way cooler than Kendra and Seth. In my own opinion. If you disagree, you can go on your way because I respect your decisions. All in all, it could have been worse. Much, much worse. Do let me know what you think in the comments below. I do love to hear from you.  
-niesbixby xx


	2. Meet and Greet

Part Two-Traitors and Saints  
It had only been a week and now she had to lead him through his first official meeting. He’d apparently been busy on some mission or another for every meeting held since he’d become a Knight of the Dawn.

What the hell was this?

To put it mildly, Vanessa was more than a little pissed. This was really nowhere in her job description as a knight. She’d gone over it just to make sure. Twice. But no, Dale had insisted she help his little brother out. At least he owed her a favor now.

Dale and Vanessa were uneasy acquaintances. They’d met once, a long time ago, and she’d ended up owing him a favor that he said he’d have a use for one day. And for whatever reason, he’d decided to cash it in now. 

It wasn’t that Vanessa didn’t like Warren, or that she begrudged Dale the favor, but socializing was the only way that Knights of the Dawn could get information that wasn’t strictly on the level. And they were quite a nosy group when it came down to it. And certainly no one was going to say anything to her if she had to keep Warren on a leash at all times.

Maybe he’d be able to handle it on his own.

What was she thinking? Of course he wouldn’t be able to handle himself. He could barely kill the spiders in his sink. Vanessa could be quite cruel when pressed, but she wasn’t about to throw the poor kid to the wolves. Because that would be what would happen if she left Warren alone. The older, more experienced Knights would pump him for information mercilessly. Never mind that he was young and inexperienced, no matter what he proclaimed.

Fine. So she’d just have to go through different channels to get her gossip. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done exactly the same thing before. So why did this feel so different?  
Vanessa turned off the TV and rested her head in her hands, studying the distinctive striped pattern of her curtains in an effort to distract herself. She glanced at her cell phone. Nothing. Why couldn’t East just call her and tell when and where the meeting was? She needed to start making arrangements for transportation, as a golem had climbed on her car and crushed it almost irredeemably.

Maybe she could get a ride from Warren. Vanessa’s fingers twitched. No, she couldn’t call him. She didn’t even have his phone number, for crying out loud. How was she supposed to contact him?

Vanessa picked up a sheaf of her notes on centaurs and flipped through it idly, not really paying attention to the content. God, centaurs were arrogant. But they were better than unicorns, at least. Stupid, puffed up, fairy royalty. They hunted blixes. She took exception to this, as a narcoblix herself. Blixes were people just like anyone else, and what right did the unicorns have to kill them? If anything, transgressions made by blixes should be dealt with by their kind. The other races didn’t truly understand what it was to have such power. 

Her phone chirped and she jumped, then flipped it open. “Yes?” she said brusquely.

East’s accented voice greeted her. ‘Two days time. The Sphinx’s Chicago residence, seven o clock sharp. Dress is cloaks and masks.”

“Bring the kid?”

“It’s high time he actually showed up.” Then the line went dead. Vanessa cursed and snapped the phone shut. She opened it again and began sending a text to Dale.

What is your brother’s phone number? She asked.

Dale replied almost immediately. How was he getting a signal at Fablehaven? She saved the phone number, then stared down at the screen, contemplating dialing. What was she doing? She was being unbelievably stupid about this. Vanessa hit the call button and whipped the phone up to her ear. 

And felt her irritation mounting as he failed to pick up on the third, then fifth, then seventh ring. What was he doing, anyway? It wasn’t like he just was out. This was his cell phone, after all.

Finally, on the thirteenth ring, (not like she was counting or anything) he picked up. “Hello?” Warren said, a little out of breath. What had he been doing, she wondered.

Vanessa snapped into business mode. This is Vanessa Santoro. I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time?”

“Oh.” He sounded almost disappointed, and Vanessa tried not to let it sting her pride.

“You are aware,” she continued, “that there is a gathering of Knights taking place in two days time, are you not?”

Warren sighed, sending a rush of static down the phone line. He mumbled a curse. “Yes,” he groaned, “but I was planning on skipping it shamelessly. I suppose you’re calling to dispel that notion.”

“I am,” Vanessa said coolly. “East decided it was time you showed up and I’m not about to contradict him.” She paused for a moment. “You live in Chicago, right?”

There was silence on the other end. Then Warren answered slowly, “Yeah, why?”

Vanessa hesitated. “I, uh-a golem kind of stepped on my car, so I kind of needed a ride, and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind…” She trailed off uncertainly.

Thank god he didn’t take long to reply. “Yeah, sure. What’s your home address?”

She gave it to him a little reluctantly. She really didn’t like invasions of privacy, even when they were her idea. It seemed so personal. “So, if you don’t mind coming around 6:00 Tuesday, that’d be great,” Vanessa instructed. “I’ll give you your robes and we can go.” God, she sounded so mundane. When had she gotten like this?

But he didn’t seem to notice her discomfort, or pretended not to. “Okay, thanks. Bye,” Warren said.

“Bye, she replied, and an uncomfortable silence stretched out between them. Se she hung up before he could say anything else that might make her keep on talking. Which she really couldn’t afford right now.

Why did he make her so uncomfortable? She really couldn’t put a finger on it. Warren seemed a nice enough kid, but there was just something about him that made her skin crawl with some suppressed emotion. Vanessa didn’t enjoy emotion. In her experience, it made very smart people do some very stupid things. Anything she could do to avoid it, she would do. So Vanessa resolved to be as cold and severe as she could to him.

Of course, that all went out the window as soon as he showed up Tuesday night. Vanessa was fussing with the fit of her robes and glancing at the clock occasionally, watching the minute hand tick towards 6.

At 5:46 she stood up and started stretching. At 5:54 the buzzer to her apartment sounded. She peered out the peephole to a stellar view of one of Warren’s hazel eyes, peering through the other side in her general direction. She sighed and opened the door, trying not to look him directly in the eyes.

After a few seconds of terse silence, Warren made a move to enter. “Mind if I…?” he trailed off, and she was forced to step aside and let him in. He stepped into her apartment, admiring the stark black and whiteness of the decorations and furniture. Everything in her flat was black or white. Vanessa wasn’t actually sure if it was on a whim or because of some underlying principal, but she couldn’t stand bright color in her home. 

“You have a very nice place,” he offered, fiddling with the one of his cuffs. He’d dressed as she was beginning to suspect was normal for him, in a dress shirt, untucked, jeans, and tough looking leather boots. “So, where are these robes and how hideous are they going to be?”

Vanessa went into her bedroom and brought his out, picking her discarded ones from the kitchen table. “I’m afraid they’re fairly awful,” she said, holding hers up for inspection. “I had to guess at your size, so they might be too big.” And she pulled hers on over her head, the weight settling on her shoulders.

Warren followed suit, spinning in a circle for her to see. “How do I look?”

“Like a monk,” she said bluntly. “Here’s your mask,” and Vanessa handed one of the heavy silver masks to him. “You don’t have to put it on until we get there, but you should hold onto it for now.”

Warren accepted it, hefting it in the air experimentally. He shrugged. “Is that it? I was expecting the full rundown, like who to sit with and who not to talk to and that good stuff. What color we wear on Tuesdays. Like Mean Girls.”

Because of course he’d seen Mean Girls. Was he trying intentionally to be this adorable, or did it just come natural to him? Either way, he was making it very hard for her to be cold. “That happens in the car,” she said sharply, then started towards the door. “Are you coming, or would you like to walk to uptown Chicago?” Vanessa swung the door open and made her way out into the chilly October air, Warren following almost meekly. Which she guessed was somewhat out of character for him.

Warren stopped in front of a beat up little Beetle, fishing in the pockets of his robe for his keys. He pulled them out, unlocking the door and holding it open for Vanessa. She huffed irritably, but got in on the passenger side. A moment later, Warren shut the driver’s side door and started the ignition, staring blankly at the road ahead of them. “So,” he started, “where are we going?”

“Why don’t you let me drive?” she asked. And before she could move to get out of the car, he was already climbing over her. “Okay,” she muttered, and slid into the driver’s seat. “All settled then?” Vanessa asked dryly. Warren nodded. So she started driving.

She was lost in thought when Warren spoke up and dragged her out of her stupor. “So what do I need to know?”

Vanessa thought for a moment before speaking, as was her wont. “I’m telling you now, all the people there will be trying to get some kind of information out of you. So don’t answer questions in specifics, if you can manage that. And listen more than you speak. But you shouldn’t have to worry about it, because I’m not about to let you go wandering off on your own.”

“Why not?” he protested.

“I went on my own to my first meeting and nearly got ousted as a narcoblix. Luckily the person made the wrong assumption and told some people that I was a lesbian.” Vanessa winced. “Almost got me kicked out, until I called up Dale to vouch for me.”

Warren sputtered, “Did you…with my brother?”

She glanced at him, her expression horrified. “No. God, no. As much as I respect Dale, there is absolutely no way I would do that with him.”

He seemed relieved, but it gave way to more questions. Vanessa should have known. “Can I bring weapons?”

“You’d be stupid not to. I brought along my dart gun and a couple of knives. You?”

“Poniard.”

“Nice.”

“Why can’t I tell people things they want to know?” Warren asked, looking at her quizzically.

Dear God, why was this poor kid so naïve? “Because they might use it against you someday.”

He looked confused. “But why would they do that? We’re all Knights of the Dawn, right? Wouldn’t they just be hurting themselves in the long run?” Warren started fiddling with the sleeve of his robe.

Vanessa sighed. Might as well rip the Band-Aid off cleanly. “Because although the Knights may clean and wholesome, under the surface they’re riddled with corruption. That’s just how people are. They’ll stab you in the back the first opportunity they get.”

Warren studied her with purely guileless eyes. And it made her uncomfortable. She wasn’t used to dealing with people who were so unused to the ways of the world. “Even you?” he asked. “If I give you the opportunity, will you stab me in the back?”

“I’m your partner. Don’t be stupid.”

He was silent for a moment. “You know, that’s not really an answer.”

“And, we’re here,” Vanessa announced quickly. They had pulled up in front of a grand looking brownstone at the end of a curving drive. She turned the car off and tossed the keys to Warren, who caught them with ease and put them back in his pocket. “Masks and hoods,” she reminded, before putting hers up quickly. Wouldn’t do for someone to see who they really were. Warren followed suit.

She knocked at the large mahogany door, and a robed figure opened it, saying, “Welcome,” in accented English. “Please step into the enclosed areas corresponding with your commander. Then remove your mask.” He stepped aside and let them into a cozy carpeted entry with four small areas partitioned off from the public.

They walked in, and Vanessa pointed at the two of them and said, “East.” The man directed them to one of the areas, and the two of them stepped in, the heavy curtain swinging shut behind them. Vanessa pulled her mask off first, Warren following suit.

East’s accented voice rumbled at them, “Very…unexpected…to see you here, Novice Burgess.” Was that a hint of disapproval?

“Apologies,” he replied. “I’ve been quite busy lately.”

East nodded and looked at Vanessa. “And a delight as always, Vanessa,” he said dryly.

Vanessa stuck her tongue out. “Oh, you know you love me, East. Where else would you get your fill of my competence paired with a fabulous sense of humor and style?”

“Somehow I think I’d manage,” East grumbled. 

“Oh, you’re no fun.”

He waved a hand at them. “Go on and enjoy yourselves until everything starts officially. Socialize, if you like. Although I know you never do, Vanessa. And likely never will.”

Warren held the curtain open as Vanessa exited, both of them pulling their masks back down. As soon as they left, Vanessa picked up her pace tremendously, her partner struggling to keep up. “So, who was that? Was he like an ex or something?”

She turned her face towards him, her voice dripping with undisguised irony. “No. Haven’t you heard? I’m a lesbian.” Warren tilted his head, and she scoffed. “East is way too old for me.   
And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even like me all that much.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure,” Warren muttered under his breath. But a tall, willowy figure had approached and started speaking to Vanessa. Displeasure practically radiated off of Vanessa in waves.

“Gretchen,” she said, “how nice to see you again. How did your latest assignment go?”

“Oh, quite well,” Gretchen purred. “In fact, I dare say I am due for a promotion any day now.” She turned her gaze on Warren. “And who is this you’ve brought with you?”

Warren opened his mouth to speak, but Vanessa cut him off. “This is my new partner.”

Gretchen’s stance shifted to something verging on patronizing. “Oh, they’ve already decided you can’t handle assignments on your own? What a pity, dear. I am so sorry.”

She stiffened, but her voice remained conversational. “I notice they haven’t asked you to teach anyone, Gretchen. Perhaps your commander doesn’t want you burgeoning new recruits with frippery? Or perhaps he can’t spare the time away from his shag buddy.” Vanessa started to turn away, pulling Warren with her. “See you in a bit, dear,” she trilled. As soon as they were out of earshot, Vanessa muttered, “Bitch.”

“What was all that about?” Warren asked. He hadn’t known Vanessa that long, but he’d never seen her act like that. She’d been pleasant, but she’d ripped Gretchen a new one with frightening skill that spoke of much experience.

“We don’t like each other very much,” she clarified. “Gretchen basically slept with people to get in, and has continued sleeping her way to the top, and I’ve always been better than her. She takes every opportunity to insult me, and I always respond in kind.”

“Couldn’t that…I don’t know, jeopardize your position as a Knight?” he asked. Vanessa didn’t answer, and Warren had the sudden realization that she honestly didn’t care. Warren smirked underneath his mask. What a woman.

Vanessa’s eyes lit upon a table of refreshments. “I’m hungry. You want anything?” She didn’t wait for an answer, but dragged Warren over to the table with her. She picked up a paper glass full of punch and sipped it, leaning against the table. Warren followed suit, staring into the room full of masked figures.

A heavily built figure approached Vanessa, arms outstretched. “Tanu!” she cried delightedly. “It’s so wonderful to see you. How are you?”

Tanu laughed, a hearty chuckle from his belly. “I’ve been very well, thank you for asking. And who is this you’ve brought with you?” he asked, gesturing at Warren.

Vanessa gripped him by the shoulder. “This is Warren, my…trainee of sorts. It’s his first meeting, so try and make him feel welcome.”

Tanu shook Warren’s hand in a crushing grip. “Very nice to meet you, Warren.” He leaned in closer. “Have you seen the Sorensons lately?” Vanessa shook her head, and Tanu continued. “Apparently Ruth had an incident out on the preserve. Word is she was turned into a chicken.”

Vanessa gasped. “No. Really?” Tanu nodded. “How terrible. Is there any hope of curing her?” At the head of the room, a bell rang loudly, halting all conversations. Vanessa turned to look, and standing at a raised podium was a tall, slender, robed figure.

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you, my fellow Knights, for joining us here in the home of the Sphinx. He regrets not being able to attend tonight, but sends us his best wishes from Turkey.”

“Who’s that?” Warren whispered.

“The Captain,” she replied. “Shh. I want to hear.”

“Our first order of business tonight is a joyful one,” the Captain continued. “I have been informed that we have a novice in attendance. I will not point him out, but I hope that he will prove a valuable asset to us.” The audience clapped, and the Captain waited until the noise had ceased. “I regret to announce that Ruth Sorenson is missing this evening, due to illness.” Tanu elbowed Vanessa knowingly.

“Appointments for our next assignments will be held after the meeting. Your commander will make you aware if you have been selected. And finally, it is my displeasure to announce that the Society of the Evening Star has once again attempted to infiltrate us. The following members have been declared traitors to the Knights of the Dawn.” The Captain produced a list from his pocket and began reading off of it. “Emma Dixon. Jack Tille. Emerson McCormack. Stanley Evergaard. And Gretchen Weiners.”

Vanessa hissed in a breath. “Gretchen? Didn’t think she had it in her.”

Near the front of the room, a commotion was ensuing. Clearly the people around Gretchen had realized who they were standing next to and were trying to get away from her. Soon the sea of people had parted around her. Gretchen pulled a knife out of god knows where and was waving it frantically. About five feet away, a man had ripped off his mask and joined her in the middle of the circle.

“Gretchen and Stanley,” the Captain intoned. “I hereby order you to return to your own and trouble us no more.”

“Not just yet,” Gretchen snarled, and plunged into the crowd of people, Stanley right behind her. They fought as a team, attacking and withdrawing, leaving blood in their wake. Chaos ensued, and the hall rang with shouts and screams.

“Oh, shit,” Vanessa muttered. “Come on!” She grabbed Warren by the sleeve and made for the door, Tanu following them.

“Do you mind if I get a ride?” he asked.

“Be my guest.” They rushed down the hall, running into a well built man guarding the entrance.

“Raise your masks,” he ordered. And all three did so. The man stopped at Warren. “Stanley Evergaard,” he said, “you will pay for your crimes.” Warren’s jaw dropped, and the man lunged at him with a knife. Vanessa pulled him out the door, but not quite fast enough.

“Ouch,” Warren muttered, looking at his forearm. Blood welled from a long gash. Vanessa unlocked the car doors and they all piled in, Tanu in the drivers seat, and the other two in the back.

“Drive!” Vanessa ordered as Warren tossed Tanu his keys. The big man wasted no time going about it. They peeled away from the door just as a large group of Knights emerged from it. 

“Is everyone all right?” she asked.

“Fine,” Tanu said.

Warren hid his arm in his robe. “I’m okay.”

Vanessa studied him appraisingly. “Show me your arm right now.”

“What-no!”

“Do it.” Warren reluctantly held up his arm, and Vanessa tutted at him, her eyes widening slightly. “Warren!” she scolded. “You need to tell me about these things right away.” She dug around under the seats, producing a small red first aid kit. Vanessa opened it and pulled out a needle and some sutures. She gripped his arm and started stitching the cut together.

“So,” Warren joked, “are all meetings like that? Because I’m starting to reconsider my attendance.”

Tanu laughed. “No, thank god. Only sometimes when traitors are announced. Which seems to be getting more and more frequently. I’ve never seen anything like it. You’re lucky you got away with just a scratch.”

“I’m really fine,” he protested.

“You could have lost a lot of blood,” she said, tying off the suture. Vanessa set the needle down and looked at Warren. “There. You’ll be fine.” Neither of them moved for a moment, and 

Tanu cleared his throat uncomfortably. 

“So,” he said, grinning cheekily at the pair in the rearview mirror. Vanessa dropped Warren’s arm like it was a hot brick, and the two scooted to opposite sides of the car. “Where am I driving?”


	3. Chapter 3

Warren’s phone didn’t ring very often. So when it did, he tended not to answer it, mostly because he never knew quite where it was. But this time, he did. Because it started talking to him.

Warren was sitting in his armchair, taking notes on fairies, when he heard Vanessa’s voice somewhere in his apartment. “Warren, pick up your damn phone,” she said. ‘Warren, pick up your damn phone.” He jumped. But when she kept saying it over and over, he realized that it was a recording. Warren had to run around his apartment, seeking out the source of the sound. 

Warren found it under his sink, emanating from his phone. He flipped it open. “Who the hell is this?” he demanded.

Someone sighed on the other end of the line. “Who the hell do you think it is?” Vanessa said, sounding exasperated. “Get over here. We’ve got work to do.”

Twenty minutes later, Warren found himself knocking on the door of Vanessa’s apartment. She pulled the door open and stared at him blankly, dark hair falling over her face. 

“Yes?” she said crankily. “Can I help you?”

Warren stared at her. “Vanessa? What’s going on?”

Then her eyes focused on him. “Oh. Good, you’re here. Come in and help me with this damn dress.”

He walked into the apartment, looking around for the dress. “What am I doing here again?”

Vanessa glanced at him. “You’re helping me do up this dress and then we’re talking to the Fairy Court in Central Park.”

“Do I get a fancy outfit too?”

Vanessa glanced him over, taking in his dark jeans, combat boots and black dress shirt. “Straighten your hair and tuck in your shirt and you’ll be fine.” She tossed him a black silk tie and disappeared into another room.

“Do I just…” he trailed off. Warren stared down at the tie and started tying it around his neck. “Okay,” he muttered, sitting down on a leather couch. A few minutes later, Vanessa reappered wearing a dark red dress with a full skirt. It was slipping off her shoulders, due to her not being able to do it up in the back. She frowned. “A little help, please?” Vanessa said. Warren stood and walked over to her. Wordlessly, Vanessa turned so he could see the long row of tiny buttons up her dress. It was already half buttoned, but the top half was left   
undone.

“Couldn’t reach?” he said in amusement.

“Alas that I cannot bend my arms all the way up my back,” Vanessa replied dryly. 

Warren reached up with slightly trembling fingers and started buttoning. Vanessa tensed for a split second, then relaxed. Once his fingers reached her shoulder blades, the muscles in her back stiffened. 

“Relax,” Warren said. “You’ll stretch the material.”

“Sorry,” she said, voice strained. He finished buttoning, and turned slowly to face him. Vanessa was incredibly fragile, he realized. Touch her in the wrong place and she might come apart at the seams.

Vanessa quickly put her hair up into a twist, held secure by a comb she produced from God knows where. She tied a belt around her waist, decorated by a dagger that he was sure was purely ornamental. She hid the real weaponry up her sleeves and under the dress, most likely.

They arrived in Central Park, just as the sun set. There is a hidden shrine there, for those who know what they are looking for. The Fairy Queen was already there, waiting for them with two of her daughters. Vanessa sank into a deep curtsy. “Your Majesty,” she said. “Lady Maeve. Lady Aurora.” Warren bowed awkwardly, then glanced at her. She nodded, then the five arranged themselves on benches around the shrine.

“Vanessa Santoro. Warren Burgess. Your punctuality is most pleasing,” The Fairy Queen intoned.

“Um…thanks,” Warren muttered. 

Maeve’s head snapped up and she glared at him. “I don’t like that one, Mother,” she said.

“Now, Maeve,” the queen replied. “Be polite to the poor Knights of the Dawn.” Maeve scowled but said nothing. Aurora merely stared at Vanessa suspiciously. 

“So, Your Majesty. I hate to be direct, but why exactly did you call this meeting tonight?” Vanessa asked.

“That one is so blunt,” Aurora murmured.

Vanessa flashed a charming smile at her. “We can sit here all night being tactful or we can be blunt and get things done. Which would you prefer, my lady?” Sarcasm fairly dripped from her voice.

Aurora tsked. The queen looked mildly impressed, while Maeve polished her fingernails on her sleeve. 

Warren took the scene in with slackjawed amazement. Had Vanessa really just sassed the three most important members of the Fairy Court into silence? “Quite,” the Fairy Queen said behind a tight lipped smile. Shit. She’d offended them, hadn’t she. Now they were really in for it. 

But then the smile became more genuine, and Warren let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. “Quite,” she said again, and both her daughters stared at her in shocked disbelief.

Vanessa smiled, sphinx-like. “So. Your Majesty. How can we help you?”

They were about to leave, having solved the issue (Warren still wasn’t quite sure what it was, they’d all been speaking so quickly) when the Fairy Queen pulled him aside for a moment. 

“You are a novice to this trade, yes?” she said. Warren nodded, looking at her just a little suspiciously. “And Vanessa Santoro is your teacher?” Warren nodded again. “You would do well, young Burgess, to pay good attention to her. She can teach you much.”

He nodded for a third time. “All right.”

She released his arm. “Good night to you.” And then Warren had to jog to catch up with Vanessa, who was moving supernaturally quickly for someone wearing such a fancy dress.

“Wait up!” he huffed. Vanessa stopped in the middle of the walkway and turned to wait for him. He stopped next to her, under a streetlight. 

“What did she say to you?” she asked quietly.

“Nothing all that important. No life shattering revelations, at least,” he replied. Warren shifted. Lying had never come easily to him.

But Vanessa bought it, or seemed to buy it. “Right,” she said, scanning his face intently. “Want to get some pizza?”

Warren’s eyes widened in surprise. “Sure. Where did you have in mind?”


	4. Into the Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Because I just can't leave well enough alone, can I.

“Do you always dress like this?” Vanessa asked, staring at Warren’s clothing. He surveyed himself quickly and took stock of his attire. Dress shirt, black jeans, combat boots. Yes. 

“Yeah,” he said, then did a double take. “Hold on. How did you even know where I was?”

Vanessa grinned. “I have my ways.”

He sighed. “You know, that might sound a lot cooler if we weren’t in the middle of the cereal aisle.” He set his box of Cocoa Crispies in the blue plastic basket and stared at her expectantly, eyeing a suspicious looking bulge in the pocket of her jeans. “What do you want?”

She tutted at him. She actually had the nerve to tut at him. “So confrontational, Warren. It’s so unlike you. Who peed in your cornflakes?”

“Cocoa Crispies,” He corrected, pointing at the basket. And I was actually in the middle of grocery shopping, if you hadn’t noticed. So I’d really like to get that done.” Warren began walking away from her, towards the opposite end of the aisle.

Vanessa fell into step beside him. “Whatever,” she commented. “I’m in no hurry.” She paused, gazing up at the ceiling. “Of course, East might be. In fact, I’m pretty sure he is.”

Warren sighed again. “Really? I just want to get my goddamn Cocoa Crispies and my lettuce and get out of here. Is that too much to ask for?”

“It’s Midsummer next week. Were you really expecting not to be called in?” she pointed out.

“No, but I was hoping the possibility might exist.” He picked up the basket and started heading towards the checkout. “Fine, let’s go. No point in delaying the inevitable, right?”

Vanessa chuckled softly. “That’s the spirit.”  
***

Warren stretched his legs, nearly kicking the seat in front of him. The owner of said seat grumbled incomprehensibly. “So, where are we even going?” he asked.

Vanessa looked up from her book, a well worn copy of The Prince. Machiavelli, he noted. An interesting choice, and quite like her. “Oh, yeah. We’re going to a preserve in Connecticut. Fablehaven, I think.”

He shifted in his seat. His brother Dale worked there, didn’t he? Did he really want Vanessa and Dale meeting each other? “Why are we going there?”

She shrugged. “Higher ups decided it was time you got some idea of the kind of hings we deal with. Stan Sorenson needed help, and here we are.”

“And who decided that you’d be coming along as well?”

“I volunteered,” Vanessa said, flashing a smile that was purely feral. “Besides, Dale owes me a favor, and it wouldn’t do for him to forget about that.”

Warren shuddered. He was suddenly very glad he wasn’t his brother. He had the feeling that Vanessa could be very convincing when she put her mind to it.

She studied him with a critical eye. “Want a book?” she said.

Warren nodded, and she passed him a thick paperback from her leather satchel. He barricaded himself behind it for the rest of the flight, stopping only when the plane touched down on the tarmac.

They retrieved their luggage from the baggage claim, Warren’s consisting of his groceries. Vaness had insisted that they would only be there overnight and therefore they could leave directly from the grocery store, to his exasperation. Vanessa led the way to the prearranged meeting area, making Warren wonder who it was they were meeting, and how on earth they would find this person in the middle of the crowded, busy airport.

Vanessa stood on tiptoe, trying to see above the crowd. Finally her eyes settled on something and she clicked her tongue in disapproval. Warren followed her gaze to a large white sign that read Morticia and Gomez in messy handwriting. 

He looked down at the owner of the sign and grinned. It was Dale. Of course it was Dale. He was the only person Warren knew who would even think of such a joke. He waved a hand at his older brother, who returned it and promptly dropped his sign to the floor. Vanessa muttered something insulting in something that sounded like either Spanish or Italian as the two brothers hugged, pounding each others backs enthusiastically.

Dale released Warren and laughed out loud as he beheld the narcoblix. He held out his arms expectantly. “And how are we today, Miss Vinegar?”

She grinned insincerely. “Better than some, oh master of cheesy jokes. I came to remind you that you owe me a favor.”

“Not to look after my poor little brother?” he countered.

Vanessa shrugged. “Yeah, him too. Can’t forget Warren.”

Warren snorted. “No, that wouldn’t do at all, would it.”

The looked up, as if just noticing that he was still there. He laughed and started towards the main doors, the other two following at a distance, bickering the entire way. If he was entirely honest, they were starting to give him a headache. But fortunately he wasn’t, so Warren led them out of the airport and towards Dale’s green Jeep.  
***  
Dale got in the driver’s side and Warren claimed the passenger seat, leaving Vanessa in the back feeling rather ignored. The two of them argued amiably, stopping only when they reached a large, iron wrought gate. Dale punched in a code and the gates swung open smoothly.

They parked in front a large brick house with several gables and a turret room. A small, Asian woman stood in the yard hanging a set of windchimes. “Hey, Lena!” Dale called, and dashed over help her. Vanessa got out of the jeep and took step towards Warren, watching the other two interact with each other.

“Have you ever been on one of the preserves before?” she asked.

Warren shook his head. “No, but I’ve done some reading and Dale has told me a good deal about his work here.” He lowered his voice. “Isn’t this the place where that woman got turned into a chicken?”

Vanessa leaned in. “Yeah, but I really wouldn’t mention it.”

 

“Why not?”

“It’s rude. And it’s not exactly supposed to be common knowledge just yet.” Warren nodded and smoothed the front of his shirt. “Oh, and don’t say anything about the last meeting, either,” Vanessa suggested, then started walking away. She stopped, turned, and glanced sidelong at him. “In fact, it might be better if you didn’t say anything at all. Peregrin Took.”

Warren stared after her, dumbfounded and damned if he’d admit it, but kind of turned on. Dale clapped a hand down on his shoulder and smiled magnanimously. “Oh, shut up,” Warren grumbled, and followed Vanessa into the house.

The Sorenson house was beautiful, Vanessa decided. It was paneled with dark hard wood and very spacious, with magical artifacts littered everywhere. A man she could only assume was Stan Sorenson stood in the kitchen, poring over a set of maps and making notes in a spiral bound notebook.

“Stan?” she asked by way of a greeting, and the older man looked up, smiling at her.

“Vanessa Santoro,” he replied. “How nice to meet you. I’ve heard nothing but good things from Dale. And this must be Warren,” Stan said, turning to the younger Burgess.

Warren smiled a tight lipped smile but said nothing. Vanessa looked surprised, as if she hadn’t actually expected him to follow her instructions. He winked at her, and a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

But Stan carried on his side of the conversation, seemingly unaware of the silent communication between the other two. Or was he? Warren was sure he’d seen the older man’s gaze flick between their faces earlier. Noting. Measuring. Taking stock. Warren’s spidey senses tingled, and glancing over at Vanessa, he noted that she was staring at Stan with an intent gaze.

“So,” Vanessa began. “What seems to be the problem? That you called us in for, that is.”

At this, Stan looked troubled. “I’ve got a revenant running loose,” he said.

Vanessa cursed quietly under her breath. “Well, shit. What’s it been up to?”

“It’s been running wild in the forest, killing some of the lesser magical creatures. I need you to find it and trap it before it allies with one of the darker creatures or demons and kills us all.”

“Well,” Warren said casually. “That certainly doesn’t sound good. Could someone please explain to me what a revenant is?”

“That’s the thing,” Stan said. “We don’t really know much about them except that they’ve been around for a very long time and that they are beings of immense dark power, if allied with the right demon. Some of them can even project fields of emotional manipulation.”

“Another thing,” Vanessa interrupted, lifting a finger. “You want us to trap it, not kill it. Why is that?”

“For one thing, we couldn’t kill it except b y using one of the Greater swords, which we don’t have the time to retrieve. And for another, I don’t believe that it would be right to kill the creature unless we had no other choice.”

“While I applaud your morals, I find I can’t wholeheartedly agree with them,” Vanessa responded staunchly. “There are some dark creatures you simply cannot save.”

Stan persisted. “Put it this way. Say you were a narcoblix.” Vanessa stiffened, and Warren’s eyes widened slightly. He didn’t know, did he? But Stan continued, unaware of the sudden panic he had inspired. “You are technically classified as a dark creature, but you are still a human being. You cannot help that you have a special skill set.”

“While I agree with your assessment of blixes, I don’t think you can quite compare them with revenants. Revenants aren’t even properly alive!” Vanessa scoffed. “They are created for the sole purpose of evil, while blixes are born. It’s completely different!”

Stan stared at her, amazement barely concealed. “You feel quite strongly about this,” he commented.

She blushed. Vanessa Santoro actually blushed. Warren almost couldn’t believe the evidence of his own eyes. “Excuse me,” she said. “I sometimes get a little carried away.” 

“No, no. Far better that you openly defend ideas that don’t agree with mine than have none of your own.”

“Excuse us,” Warren said, pulling Vanessa away. “We’ll go and find our rooms.” He pulled her up the stairs and into an empty room, hissing, “What the hell was that? You just nearly gave yourself away.”

Her eyebrows pulled together. “It just kind of happened. And I didn’t realize that it was any of your goddamn business, Warren,” Vanessa spat.

“It is now that we’re partners! If you get found out, what happens to me? I get thrown out as a condemned spy or something!”

“Because it’s all about you, isn’t it? Nevermind that I most likely get beheaded if they find out. But no, everything’s about the all powerful Warren!” Vanessa threw up her hands and stalked towards the door.

“Wait,” he said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just don’t want either of us to get hurt if someone finds out.”

She stopped. “Your apology is accepted. However, so that I don’t do something I’ll regret, I’m going to go for a run. Excuse me.” With that, she waked out, the door swinging shut behind her. Warren walked out a few seconds later, heading in the opposite direction. Concealed in the shadows of the darkened room, Lena hummed quietly to herself and drew.  
***  
“Hugo!” Dale shouted, standing at the edge of the yard. Warren stood next to him, searching the horizon. A few minutes passed, and Dale’s forehead creased. “That’s weird. He must be far out today.” But then a dull, repeated thudding sound could be heard in the distance.

“What’s that?” Warren said slowly, and Dale’s answering grin made his heart race in anticipation or fear. One of the two. A huge man made of dirt stomped out of the trees and halted in front of his brother.

“Hugo, go to the barn and milk Viola.” He turned to Warren. “How did you like the milk?”

But Warren was still staring at Hugo’s retreating form. “You have a golem?” he asked in disbelief.

“Just one of the many perks of working at Fablehaven. The fairies keep the gardens looking good, which decreases my workload. And Hugo does most of the heavy lifting. So, I don’t...” Dale paused. “I don’t actually do all that much, to be honest.”

Warren nodded. “That’s pretty cool. I don’t really get that as a Knight. They keep us pretty busy.”

“Yeah, how is that? Vanessa’s a pretty tough chick. She hasn’t been too hard on you, has she?”

Warren thought back over the last month and a half and the norm of her behavior. She’d been pretty all right to work with, he thought. She’d only gotten angry when she’d been provoked, and he supposed he’d learned a lot from her. “No,” Warren said, “Vanessa’s been a pretty good partner.”

Dale raised an eyebrow. “Just a partner, little brother? You two looked pretty cozy earlier.”

Warren sputtered. “What-no! What are you talking about? There is nothing-and I mean nothing-going on between the two of us.”

“Whatever you say,” his brother replied, glancing at him doubtfully. “All the same-”

“What’s that?” Warren said suddenly, pointing in a random direction.

“That’s a tree. Are you sure you’re feeling all right?”

Which was just-”Yeah.”

His brother shrugged. “Fine. Wanna see some cool stuff?” Then he started off towards the barn, Warren in tow.

Oddly enough, Vanessa wasn’t there when they went to dinner. Her things were in her room, but no one could find her or had an idea of where she could be.

“It’s probably nothing,” Dale said. “She’ll turn up sooner or later, covered in mud and twigs and god knows what. It’s what she does.”

Warren frowned but didn’t reply. Somehow he didn’t think it was as simply as Dale made it out to be. It was getting dark, and there would be all kinds of things roaming around that could potentially kill you. There was-shit, the revenant was still out htere!

He raced up the stairs to Vanessa’s room and grabbed her duffel bag, then started rummaging through it, searching for anything useful. A steady stream of metal clattered to the floor. Warren picked up a rapier and a knife, wondering how on earth Vanessa had gotten this stuff through security. Actually, now that he thought about it, he probably didn’t want to know.

Warren packed up the rest of the gear and put the duffel on the bed, then headed down the stairs. He nearly barreled into Lena on his way down, but managed to stop himself just in time.

The older woman stared at him and Warren was suddenly gripped by the impulse to explain what he was doing. “Um,” he said. Very eloquently. “I’m just going to look for Vanessa. It’s getting kind of dark outside.”

Lena didn’t even blink. “I think that might be wise. The narcoblix might have gotten into trouble.”

Warren’s eyes grew to about the size of saucers. “What?”

“You heard me,” she said. “If you don’t want people to find out your secrets,” Lena continued, “then perhaps you should make sure the room is really empty before you start talking about them so loudly. Don’t worry. I’m not about to tell anyone.”

“Why the hell not? It’d be the smart thing to do.” Warren was a little surprised at the heat with which he spoke. Where had that come from?

 

“For one thing, it’s none of my business. For another, I’m a naiad. It would be a bit like betraying one of my sisters. And I don’t think that your Vanessa is about to go and abuse her gifts. If she did, well. That would be another matter entirely.”

He nodded and continued down the stairs. “Thanks, Lena,” he tossed over his shoulder.

As Warren continued through the house, he found Stan in the kitchen, still studying the same maps. “I’m going to find Vanessa,” he offered.

“Are you sure? The preserve can be dangerous at night.”

“That’s why I’m going.” Stan studied him for a long moment, then nodded.

“Take a flashlight with you,” he said, opening a drawer and handing him a clunky black one. Warren held it up appreciatively and headed towards the door. Dale stepped in front of him, looking as serious as Warren had ever seen him.

“Be careful, little brother. Don’t let the monsters get you.”

“Not if I get them first,” he promised. Dale smiled and let him pass.

The night air was warm and slightly breezy. It was a pleasant night for a stroll in any other imaginable locale. But not here. Here a troll could be lurking around the next corner or a centaur could be lurking in the bushes, just waiting for something that could be taken as an insult. Centaurs were pompous jerks, he decided. Warren took a deep breath, steeled himself, and started into the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, we're back. And with a chapter. Yay! This is a really long thing that I wrote out but haven't typed up yet, hence why it shall be broken up into more manageable chunks. And I kinda sorta have things planned out after this. 
> 
> Kinda. Sorta.


	5. Into the Woods Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We return to the scene of that regrettable incident in the woods.

In hindsight, going for a walk unarmed in the middle of a magical preserve at night wasn’t one of her brightest ideas. And to make it even worse, she’d managed to get herself lost.

Vanessa really did have terrible luck. Not to mention that it was getting dark and god knows what could come crawling out of the bushes at any second. 

Which was just hilarious on so many different levels.

She considered her options. She could hunker down for the night and hope for the best. Or she could try to find her way back. No good. Wandering around would only get her even more lost than she was already.

She could stay put and hope that someone would come looking for her sooner or later. But then, no one knew where she’d gone except-

Except Warren.

Would he come looking for her?

Vanessa knew she hadn’t been the kindest to him; in fact, they’d just fought. What better way to get rid of an inconvenient narcoblix than to leave her in the middle of a preserve overnight? Her resolve hardened. Well, if that was what happened, she certainly wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Then Vanessa thought for a moment.

No, Warren wouldn’t leave her. He lacked the cold practicality it would take. He would be coming, and she just had to stay put until he showed up.  
***  
Warren stumbled over a tree root for perhaps the fifth time in as many minutes. He cursed. “Hey! Vanessa, are you out there? Because this whole wandering through the woods in the dark thing is getting kind of old.”

As he’d expected, the silent trees made no reply. “Great,” Warren muttered. “Just great. I’m going to die out here in the middle of freaking nowhere.”

He pointed the flashlight up at the trees, half expecting to see some monster sitting in their branches. Luckily, there wasn’t one. Warren dug through his pockets for his cell phone and amazingly, he had reception.

So he decided to try calling Vanessa. He dialed her phone and listened carefully in the dark. Something, something nearby, was playing a tinny ring tone version of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries.

Warren’s flashlight swept the ground, searching out the source of the noise. He found it lying abandoned in the grass, fifty yards ahead of him. Well, wasn’t that just great. Vanessa no longer had her phone, which would make finding her even more difficult.

“Vanessa!” he shouted again, and this time was answered with a scream. He cursed and set off at a dead sprint.

By the time Warren arrived, he was panting and out of breath from the run. At that moment, he resolved that if he lived through this mission, he would start working out more the very next day. But his eyes didn’t immediately catch up with his thoughts. When they did, he saw Vanessa standing in the center of a clearing lit by a small fire. She was in a fighting stance, fists up to protect her face.

Across from her was an ogre or a troll; he couldn’t really tell in this lighting. Vanessa’s hair was in her eyes, her lip was split, and her nose was bleeding, but she looked otherwise unharmed. It was at that point that Warren’s thought faster than the rest of him and ran into the clearing, tossing Vanessa her rapier.

“Warren?” she said, disbelief in her voice and something else shining in her eyes. “What are you doing here?”

The troll was approaching rapidly. “Um,” he said nervously. “Can we deal with this first and save the pleasantries for later?”

Vanessa nodded determinedly and held up the rapier, settling back into a low stance. “Let’s smoke the little bitch.” And with that, she charged the troll. He hesitated for a split second before following, both of them screaming war cries.

“This is crazy!” Warren shouted.

“I know!” And then the troll was upon them and they were fighting for their lives.

The troll got in a few good hits at first, clubbing Warren on the side of the head. He reeled back, stars shining in front of his eyes. He cried out in pain and Vanessa took the opportunity to stab it in the shoulder, making the troll hiss angrily at her.

Warren staggered forward while the troll’s back was turned and leapt onto his back, using the hilt of his knife as an extra grip. Her eyes widened. “The hell are you doing?”

He hung on with a grim determination. “Hopefully something smart,” Warren replied.

Vanessa looked dubious. “Doubtful,” she muttered, but she started attacking the troll again. It dodged, trying to use Warren as a shield, but he clung tightly to its back, gritting his teeth. “Get off,” Vanessa said as she ducked under the troll’s clenched fist.

“What?”

“Now!” she commanded, then kicked the troll in the center of the chest. Warren launched himself into the air as the troll toppled backwards. Vanessa stuck the rapier into the troll’s throat and ripped it out with a cold determination that was, if he was honest, a little terrifying. Warren tucked his head and rolled, trying to minimize injury. He stood up shakily and walked over, both of them watching the troll’s blood turn the grass a dark red.

“Well, that was interesting.” Vanessa looked at him curiously. Did he have something on his face?

“That it was,” she said solemnly. “Are you all right? You look kind of…wobbly.”

Warren frowned. That was wrong. She was the one who looked wavy. She was tilting from side to side like one of those children’s toys.

She got in close, staring at one of his eyes. “That’s good. No concussion at least. You’d better sit-“ she said, but that was when he toppled forward. Vanessa leaned in, bracing his weight with locked elbows.

Vanessa slung his arm over her shoulders and lowered him to the ground, mindful of his head. She knelt and checked his pulse, then turned out his pockets, searching for a phone.

She pulled one out and searched through the contacts, finally finding Dale’s name, then dialing his number. He picked up on the first ring. “Warren?” he asked, sounding worried.

“No, this is Vanessa Santoro. I-“ 

Dale cut her off. This seemed to be happening a lot lately. “Is he okay?”

Vanessa glanced over at Warren. “Um, sort of. He’s unconscious and he’s got a head injury, but otherwise fine.”

“How’d that happen.”

“There may have been a troll involved,” she admitted.

Dale sighed, the noise sounding like a rush of static. “Of course there was. Where are you?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t really know. Is there any way for you to find out where we are?”

He paused, and she heard typing on the other end. “Yeah, I put a GPS tracker on that phone. So I can be there in about…twenty minutes.”

“Dale, I could kiss you,” she breathed.

“Please don’t. But you owe me a favor as of now.” Then Dale hung up and Vanessa was alone. She sat down, suddenly very aware of how dark and creepy it was out here. She shivered, stretched, and started pulling Warren towards the campfire she’d made. Vanessa tried to avoid rocks, but could not do so entirely.

They reached the fire and Vanessa sat down with Warren’s head in her lap. Best to inspect the source of the injury. She skimmed her fingers through his hair and probed his scalp until she felt something sticky on her fingertips. She poked at it gently, trying to gauge the width and depth of the gash.

It couldn’t be that bad; there wasn’t much blood. She froze as he rolled and started murmuring. “Shh,” Vanessa hissed, looking around. There could still be anything out there, looking at them from the trees.

“Emily?” he asked, eyes still closed.

“No. Be quiet.” Then Vanessa mentally chastised herself. She really needed to work on her bedside manner. She hesitated, then started smoothing a hand over his hair. There was obviously some kind of delirium going on here and she just needed to go along with it until Dale got here.

Warren’s eyes fluttered open and he stared at her seriously. “Sing to me, Emily.” And Vanessa just reminder herself that she needed to cooperate, that Dale would probably be here soon.

Never mind that she really didn’t sing.

But she started humming under her breath. It started as Somewhere Over the Rainbow, which merged into On My Own, which turned into a series of Italian folk songs. Which, of course, was when Dale turned up.

He found her sitting next to a dying fire, petting Warren’s hair while singing something that sounded suspiciously like the Sesame Street theme. Dale noticed something glittering on her cheeks.

“Are you crying?” he asked incredulously.

Which was just-“No!” The word came flying out of her mouth before she could stop herself. “Look, are you going to help me or not?”

So together they heaved the younger Burgess into the backseat of the Jeep, buckling him in as best they could. Vanessa retrieved her weapons, hopped in, and they headed for the house.

A few minutes into the drive, Vanessa broke the silence. “You don’t by any chance know why I might have been referred to as Emily earlier on this evening?”

Dale stared ahead at the dirt beaten trail. “We had a sister named Emily. She was my twin, and she died a couple years ago. Something at on of the dragon sanctuaries. I don’t think he ever really got over it.” He paused and glanced over at her. “He must have been really out of it.”

“Head wound,” Vanessa clarified, and Dale nodded in understanding. 

“Oh, I see. What were you doing out here so late anyway?”

She shifted in her seat. “I went out for a run and got lost.”

“You know, we have a treadmill in the house.”

“The exercise wasn’t really the point.” They rode the rest of the way back to the house in silence. A solitary light was on in the kitchen, where Lena could be seen sitting. Stan was waiting in front of the house, just inside the yard. Vanessa hopped out of the Jeep, Dale following suit.

Together they got Warren out of the vehicle, draping his arms across their shoulders, and half carried, half dragged him into the house. Stan looked concerned. “What happened?”

Dale and Vanessa looked at each other. “There was a bit of a troll,” she said.

Finally they got him in the house, up the stairs, and into bed. After that, the remaining four congregated in Stan’s office. Lena knitted in the corner. Dale tapped his fingers on the desk. Vanessa snacked on some grapes, and Stan sipped a glass of white wine.

Stan folded his arms. “So, what exactly happened?”

Vanessa popped a grape into her mouth. “I went out and got lost. And then I guess Warren came to get me, and found me fighting a troll. So he jumps in and we deal with it. Somewhere in there he got hit on the head and passed out. So I called Dale and well, here we are.”

He nodded. “What happened to the troll.”

“It died,” she said succinctly. 

“Are you sure?”

“If by sure you mean that I stuck a rapier in its throat and watched it bleed out, then yeah. I’m pretty sure,” Vanessa said calmly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to bed. It’s been a long day and I’d like to sleep.”

Stan nodded, and she left the room and headed up the stairs. Vanessa peered into Warren’s room for a moment, then walked into her room, got into bed, and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There shall be likely one more part of Into the Woods, which will set things up for some later events. Like, oh, I don't know. The revenant? Stay tuned, and goodnight, listeners. Goodnight.
> 
> Or good morning or good afternoon, whatever time zone it is for you all.


	6. Into the Woods Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he had a very bad feeling about this. “What did you have in mind?”
> 
> “You’re not going to like it.”
> 
> “Tell me anyway.”
> 
> She told him. He didn’t like it.

Warren awoke to the worst headache he’d ever had in his life. He groaned and sat up, holding his head. What the hell had happened? He mentally replayed the events of the previous night and groaned again. Brained by a troll. What a way to go.

He looked out the window, where it appeared to be mid morning. How long had he been out? Warren sung his legs off the side of the bed. It was past time to be doing things. He attempted to push himself into a standing position, but only succeeded in falling halfway onto the floor with a dull thud. A few seconds later, Vanessa appeared in the doorway.

“What the hell are you doing out of bed?” she asked, rushing over and practically dragging him back onto the bed.

Well. That was a little embarrassing, being manhandled by a 5’8 woman. But Warren didn’t give utterance to these thoughts, having a vague idea of what would happen after that statement. He ran a hand through his hair somewhat uncomfortably.

Vanessa pulled her hair back into a tight pony tail and began lacing up her boots. “I’m going out to deal with the revenant now. Stan and Dale are here, and I have my cell on.” She paused and glanced at him. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Shouldn’t I be telling you that?” he joked halfheartedly. “Go on. I won’t hold you back.”

Vanessa nodded and headed towards the door. “Cool. See you later, then.” She picked up her duffel bag, flashed him a smile, and left the room.

After a while, Dale appeared holding a paper package, which he handed to Warren. “Here,” he said. “I made you a sandwich.”

Warren unwrapped it and started eating. Dale sat down on the edge of the bed. “So, what happened?”

He looked up. “Didn’t Vanessa tell you?”

Dale shrugged noncommitally. “Yeah, well, I don’t really trust her word.”

Warren tilted his head quizzically. “I thought you guys were friends.”

He shrugged again. “Friends? Nah, not really. We’re friendly. I met her a few years back, before she became a Knight. We trade favors for each other. Do I like her? Sure. Do I trust her? No, not really.” Dale scratched the back of his head.

“I do,” Warren said. “I trust her. I trust her with my life. She could have left me out there last night and she didn’t.” And he thought to himself, And I think she’d probably say the same about me.

Dale stood. “If you say so. Stan and I are going into town to do some grocery shopping now. We probably won’t be back until late this afternoon,” he told Warren. “There’s some leftovers in the fridge if you need anything else.”

Warren grinned. “Have fun.”

Dale smiled sarcastically and left, the door clicking shut behind him. Warren waited. Ten minutes later, he heard car doors slamming and the Jeep roaring to life. The sound of the engine faded away into the distance and everything was quiet.

Warren got out of bed, carefully this time. If no one else was around, he was going to have a look around the place. Not like there was anything else to do.

He leaned a hand on the wall as he walked down the hallway. The house was eerily silent. Warren made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Laying on the table was an oblong stone object with strange runes carved into it. Warren took a closer look at it, noting a small paper tag attached to it by a thread. The tag read, ina thin, spidery script, For Containment. But Vanessa was-She had just-Wasn’t she?

Shit.

It was quite clear to him what had happened. Vanessa had gone out to deal with the revenant and left one of her tools behind. Possibly a very important tool. Warren picked up the rock and ran into the garden.

“Hugo!” he shouted, and the golem stomped out of the barn. “Do you know where Vanessa is?”

The golem nodded. Warren held up his arms. “Can you take me there?” Hugo scooped him up in one giant arm and set off through the woods at a steady plod.

Ten minutes in and Warren was really starting to regret his knee jerk decision. He had no idea where he was going. He was unarmed. And his headache was coming back. 

This was really going to suck.

But he resisted the urge to go back and gripped Hugo’s arm. This needed to be done and he was the only one around to do it, and that was that.

A few minutes later, Hugo stopped and pointed with his free hand to a grove of trees. Warren slapped his arm. “Great. Set me down and wait here, okay?” No answer. “Okay,” he muttered, and set off for the grove.

He find Vanessa calmly digging a small hole just outside the grove. “Hey,” he said hesitantly. The next moment, the shovel was swinging at his head. He ducked and flung his hands up in an attempt to protect his already aching head.

Vanessa looked at him more closely and lowered the shovel. “Sorry about that. Hey.” She paused. “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, in bed?”

He held up the stone. “You forgot this.”

She snatched it from his hands and looked at it carefully. “Wow. Yeah, that could have been really bad.” Vanessa nodded. “Thanks, I guess. Actually, you being here solves a problem, too.”

Warren narrowed his eyes. For some reason, he had a very bad feeling about this. “What did you have in mind?”

“You’re not going to like it.”

“Tell me anyway.”

She told him. He didn’t like it.

“That’s so unfathomably stupid that I can’t even believe you’d think of it,” Warren snapped. “Why on earth would you want to be bait?”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “I don’t exactly see you coming up with better ideas. And if I’m not the bait, who will be? I don’t think you’d be able to keep ahead of the revenant in your current state, nor should you be trying. And by the way, I’m not exactly thrilled about being chased through the woods by something that could potentially kill me, but I don’t see any other option.”

Warren sighed. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

A few moments later, Warren waited patiently while the revenant chased Vanessa through the forest. This was a bad idea. This was such a bad idea that he was beginning to question Vanessa’s sanity.

Of course, he didn’t have any reason to complain. All he had to do was drop the carved rock into the hole. She’d buried the other three at points around the grove and was luring it there. Once she passed him, he put the rock in and it wouldn’t be able to pass the stones.

In theory.

Vanessa burst through the trees, coming towards him at a dead sprint. The revenant was about ten feet behind her, chasing with a shuffling walk that was a lot less menacing than he’d anticipated it being. She passed him,a nd he dropped the rock and immediately started shoveling dirt over it.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder and Warren yelped and threw the shovel. Vanessa looked coolly unimpressed. “Don’t do that,” he said, walking forward to reclaim the shovel, which now lay just past the hole.

A hand grabbed the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards with surprising strength. “Don’t cross the line,” Vanessa warned, still gripping his shirt. “The revenant can’t leave the grove but once you enter, it can exercise its power on you.”

“Not good?” he asked.

“Very not good,” she replied. “Like, take all the bad things you can think of and then add a whole nother suitcase full of bad on top of that.”

“Got it,” he said, and offered up his arm. “Shall we?”

She took it seriously. “We shall.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of that arc. Now some things are set up for the finale. Important things. Things that will make you sad. I pinky promise.
> 
> Most likely.
> 
> Also, head on over to tumblr and check out my friends soulofgrunhold and vanessa-the-narcoblix. They're pretty awesome Fablehaven blogs as well.
> 
> And there shall probably be another chapter up within a moment or so.


	7. How the Sphinx Stole the Artifacts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sphinx was a patient man.

The Sphinx was a patient man. He’d had to be. He’d lived for a very long time since he first discovered the Font of Immortality, with Nagi Luna’s help. In his very long life, the Sphinx had realized something very important. Everything has its time, and everything ends. Funny how being nearly immortal taught you about the finite nature of the world.

He applied this newfound logic to the magical world around him and what he saw troubled him. The dominion of magical creatures was shrinking rapidly. Soon it could disappear altogether. And the prisons that held the demons at bay would one day crumble and fall as well. What destruction would be wrought upon the world when that happened?

The best way to avoid being the slave was to be the master, he had found. So why not let the demons out on his own terms? They would have to be released eventually, so why not do it in a controlled manner? It would be child’s play to make sure he stayed on top. He could be the savior of humanity. It would be the best thing to do with his immortality.

And so the Sphinx formulated a plan. A wonderful plan. A terrible plan. A wonderful, terrible plan.

But in order to open the prison, he would need to find the magical artifacts that held it shut. And in order to find them, he would need to infiltrate the organizations devoted to their protection. It had taken a long time (not that he was keeping track, he did have an eternity) but he’d eventually become the Captain of the Knights of the Dawn and found out the five secret preserves where the artifacts were hidden.

This was where he faced yet another problem. He wouldn’t be able to go after the artifacts himself, for fear of giving himself away. The Sphinx would need an assistant inside the organization to help him.

It would take longer than he could wait for Mr. Lich to work his way up through the ranks. Therefore, and after much pondering, the Sphinx realized that he would need to recruit someone already on the inside.

This proved to be harder than he had anticipated.

Most of the knights were stiff necked, completely unable to see that they were in the wrong and that their perspective of defending humanity as golden protectors was hopelessly outdated. He would know. The Sphinx had been around when that idea was fresh. And the ones he managed to persuade were incompetent beyond belief, usually getting caught within the week.

The old were unbending and the young were idiots. What was a man to do about it?

The Sphinx had just about given up when Vanessa Santoro joined the Knights of the Dawn. She was young, yes, but intelligent and undeniably talented for one her age. Or any age, for that matter. He knew she lived in Chicago, but the woman was nearly impossible to find. She wasn’t in the phone book, nor did she have a listed address. Not to mention she had an irritatingly clever habit of paying for everything with cash.

Warren Burgess, her partner, was decidedly easier to locate. The Sphinx had considered recruiting him at one point, but changed his mind. He was, according to popular report, very idealistic and unlikely to change sides. So he’d have to be gotten out of the way. Permanently.

The Sphinx’s Murder Attempt #1: Poison the Milk

Someone was buzzing constantly at his doorbell, Warren noted. It was too damn early for this crap. He rolled out of bed and hit the buzzer. “Who the hell is it?” he grumbled. 

“Vanessa, you idiot. Let me up.”

Warren sighed and hit the button again, then opened the refrigerator. Where had he put the milk? He was sure it was on the door, but apparently he had moved it. He spotted it next to the orange juice. God, it was like he was going crazy sometimes.

Someone banged on the door, making him jump. Warren opened the door to see Vanessa on the other side, waiting for him expectantly.

“Well?” she said.

“Well what?”

“Are you going to let me in?” Warren stepped aside wordlessly and let her in, going back to the refrigerator. He pulled the milk out and twisted the top off.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, raising the carton to his lips.

Vanessa wrinkled her nose. “Warren, put that carton down,” she commanded. “That’s disgusting. Give it to me.” She snatched the plastic container from him and studied it intently. “This is three days past the expiration date.” Then she poured it down the drain, ignoring Warren’s protests.

The Sphinx’s Murder Attempt #2: Shooter in a Large Crowd

“Why are we doing this?” Vanessa groaned. “You know I hate going places with people.”

“Oh, shut up,” Warren said, scanning the crowd. “It’ll be fun.”

After hearing that Vanessa had never been to a farmer’s market before, he’d shown up at her apartment building, demanding to be let in. After which he dragged her out, insisting that she had to go to at least one farmer’s market in her life. (“It’s fun,” he’d insisted as he pulled her by the wrist to his car. “Don’t you like fresh produce?”)

“But I hate people,” the narcoblix sighed heavily, looking at all the people walking around to the different stalls, carrying bags and baskets full of fruits, vegetables, and baked goods. “Just look at them all. The idiots.”

“Stop pouting,” he scolded. “You can’t live on ramen noodles for the rest of your life. It’s not healthy.”

So they proceeded into the market, Vanessa clutching his arm, claiming she “didn’t want to get lost in this hellhole”. Honestly. Why did she insist upon being so difficult?

“I most certainly can live on ramen noodles for the rest of my life,” she grumbled. “And who cares about healthy? It’s delicious.”

Mr. Lich, one of the many faces in the crowd, scanned the people going by. The pair should be here, shouldn’t they? He’d tailed them all the way from the apartment; the Sphinx would kill him if he lost them now.

There! The pair stood by one of the stalls selling fresh noodles, bickering about something. Mr. Lich smirked. This was like taking candy from a baby. They were so busy arguing with each other that they’d never see him coming.

He pulled the specially modified camcorder from the pocket of his blazer. It wasn’t a real camcorder, of course. He slid the bullets into the battery chamber and held it up, pointing it at the couple. Mr. Lich inhaled, aimed, fired, and then exhaled.

“Stop!” Vanessa screeched, pulling Warren down just as the first of the bullets flew over their heads. Not that either of them noticed. Vanessa pointed at the small, wooly caterpillar crawling rapidly away from his shoe. “Don’t step on it,” she said. Her hair fell like a dark curtain over her face.

“Someone’s going to step on it eventually,” he said, faintly bemused. This was actually kind of adorable. He would never have expected this reaction from the cool, professional Vanessa.

“It doesn’t have to be you, though,” she replied, looking up at him. She pushed her hair back. A light blush colored her face and Warren couldn’t help but stare at her. Had she always been this gentle underneath her icy exterior? How had he missed it?

Vanessa picked up the caterpillar and stood, although she remained somewhat hunched over, shielding the insect. “Come on. We’re going to put it somewhere.”

The Sphinx’s Murder Attempt #3: Climbing Accident

Vanessa stared up at the steep rock face and her hands on her hips. “Why did I think accepting a rock climbing invitation would be a good idea again?”

Warren walked behind her, climbing gear over his back. “Because rock climbing is fun and good exercise?”

“I’m afraid of heights?”

Warren sobered. “Oh. I can go first, if you’d prefer?” She nodded, and he called up to the top of the cliff. “Hey, you ready up there?”

Dale appeared and dropped two ropes to the bottom of the cliff. “Ready!” he shouted down.

“Um, that rope looks kind of frayed,” Vanessa commented, twiddling her hands nervously. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

Warren glanced back at her. “Relax. We’ve done this thousand times.” Then he approached the rope and clipped the carabiner in his climbing rig to it.

She huffed and folded her arms over her chest. “If you say so.”

He shrugged and started climbing. It wasn’t a difficult climb, in his opinion. He and Dale had been doing this for years. About a third of the way up was an edge that jutted out slightly. He decided to make for that, for starters. “Kind of windy up here,” he commented, mostly to himself. Had Warren looked up just then, he would have seen the rope rubbing against a sharp edge of the rock, the fibers fraying. But he didn’t.

“Hey, watch it,” Vanessa warned.

Warren let go of the cliff and swung out, trusting the rope with his entire weight. “No worries. See?” The rope suddenly snapped and he went plummeting towards the ground below.

Vanessa flung herself sidelong onto the ground, Warren landing on top of her in a tangle of limbs. He groaned. “Ow,” he said. “That hurt”

“You’re elbowing me in the spleen,” came Vanessa’s muffled voice from underneath him.

“Sorry,” he said, climbing off her and standing up. “You okay?” Warren offered a hand, which she took. Maybe not gratefully, but she took it nonetheless.

Vanessa stood up and took a long, careful look at him. “I’m fine, you complete and utter idiot.” Her voice shook with barely suppressed anger.

“What?”

“I told you this kind of thing was dangerous! I told you that rope was frayed! But do you listen to me? No, of course not.” She gestured wildly, using her entire body. “I forgot! You’re a Burgess; you don’t need to listen or take advice from other people.” Vanessa paused. “God, don’t scare me like that again.” Then she hugged him.

Warren froze. What the actual hell was happening right now? Was Vanessa actually hugging him? He pulled back and looked at her. “You don’t hug.”

Vanessa laughed softly. “I’m Italian. It’s kind of a requirement.”

***

The Sphinx almost couldn’t believe it. Either the agents he’d sent out were even more incompetent than normal, or this Warren Burgess had the luck of the gods.

Or Vanessa Santoro was even more skilled than he’d anticipated.

The Sphinx could see that he would get absolutely nowhere if he continued trying to kill Burgess. So he’d have to go about this a different way. This would a more personal touch. Certainly it might take a little more time, but this was infinitely worth it. The Sphinx was a patient man.

He could wait.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaahhhhhh..... Writing the Sphinx is just so much fun. He has such great reasoning for doing really awful things and I totally understand why he felt the need to do the things he did and if you want to tell me he was evil, I will FIGHT you. In a nice and neighborly way. Because he's really not.
> 
> And such fluff. So much fluff. Don't worry, there will be more pain soon.
> 
> Also, don't forget to check out soulofgrunhold and vanessa-the-narcoblix on tumblr. They are fairly chill people. 
> 
> Do it. 
> 
> Kidding. You don't have to if you don't want to.
> 
> I'm rambling now, aren't I? I'm going to stop now. See, Hannah, this is what happens when you write things while you're sick.  
> Do it now.


	8. The Trask at Hand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write Trask. This is what happened. This may or may not be important to the actual plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So, if you have sent me a message on Tumblr, I did sent you a reply. However, I'm not sure if it went through as my laptop kind of crashed when I was trying to reply. Please tell me if it did or did not work.

"Why is it that every time I see you, I get this intense feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach?" Warren asked, looking at Vanessa.

She shrugged. "Depends. When was the last time you went to a Taco Bell?"

Warren rolled his eyes. "Right. There isn't some magical disaster going on we need to deal with, is there? And by the way, how did you get into my apartment in the first place? That's actually kind of creepy."

Vanessa folded her arms and smirked. "You really need to invest in a better security system," She looked around the apartment, taking in the piles of books scattered everywhere, the mug of coffee growing cold on the small, wooden table, and the battered table sitting open on the table. She looked at Warren, sitting in front of the laptop, his hair mussed and dressed in sweatpants and a grey tee shirt.

He ran a hand through his hair, rumpling it even more. "Anyway, I'm a bit busy at the moment."

Vanessa nodded slowly. "Yes," she commented. "I can see that. What are you even doing?" She pulled up a chair and sat down, looking expectantly at him.

Warren looked back, seemingly lost for words. "Um," he scratched his chin idly, "well," he snapped the lid of the laptop shut and smiled winningly. He had rather nice teeth, Vanessa noticed, then frowned. Wait, what? Where had that come from? "It's not really that important," he said.

She raised an eyebrow. "Okay," she muttered. "Fine. That means we can go right now." Vanessa poked him in the shoulder. "So go get dressed." In a daze of confusion, Warren got up and started towards the door to his bedroom.

"And no combat boots!" Vanessa shouted after him, grinning as the door slammed shut behind him. SHe glanced at the laptop and consciously fought back the urge the open it and see what he'd been doing. Her fingers strayed toward the battered case, but she pulled them back, biting off a sharp curse. Vanessa rested her hand in her hands, attempting to reduce the temptation. Why did she have to be so nosy? It was going to get her in so much trouble someday.

She stared at the laptop, then pushed herself up and walked over to the stacks of books. If she couldn't look through his computer, she sure as hell was going to snoop through his reading material.

Warren found her a few minutes later sitting in one of his armchairs, nose in one of his many paperback thrillers. He looked on in amusement. "You know," he commented, making her jump, "you can borrow it, if you want."

Vanessa leapt to her feet, clutching the book. She relaxed after a moment, nodded, and stuck the book in her bag. "Ready to go?" she asked.

He tilted his head. "Yeah, but where are we going?"

She adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag. "Just wait and find out, will you?"

***

Warren stared at Vanessa, who was peacefully eating a vanilla ice cream cone. A marimbist played in the background, and they sat on the edge of a white stone fountain.

"Did you drag me out of my apartment to eat ice cream?" he asked, tone bordering on dangerous.

"No, don't be silly," she said. "We're here for Chinese food as well," Vanessa paused. "What? The food carts will be here in just a minute."

"We're here for ice cream and Chinese food?" he hissed.

"Basically, yeah. Your ice cream is melting," she pointed out. "Besides, it's not like you get out all that much anyway, as anyone can see from the state of your apartment."

"Oh, gee, thanks," Warren replied, then took a bite of the ice cream cone.

"I'm paying, anyway. What does it matter?"

He huffed impatiently. "Well, maybe I was in the middle of something." She gave him a flat look, and he held up his hands. "Okay, maybe it wasn't life or death important."

"Few things are," Vanessa commented, then thought for a moment. "Except maybe this."

"Chinese food and ice cream is a matter of life and death. Really," he said, the skepticism evident in his voice.

"Maybe that's not all we're doing."

Warren squawked. "What-you never mentioned anything else."

Vanessa shrugged. "Messing you is too much fun. Besides-" she snapped her mouth shut and stood, tossing her ice cream cone in the trash. "Food cart's here. Let's go." She strode off towards the cart, Warren jogging to catch up.

"Wait, what are we going?"

"Um..."

"Oh, come on. You had a whole ten minutes to explain, but no, you had to be all mysterious with your ice cream and your Chinese food and now I have no FREAKING idea what's going on."

"That's hardly my fault."

"You could have told me." 

"You could have asked."

Warren sighed. "Well, it's beside the point now, isn't it? What do I do?"

"Shut it," she hissed, and approached the food cart. It was painted a bright red, with yellow stars evenly dispersed on the painted wood. Vanessa knocked on the door sharply, then, receiving no answer, listened at the door and called, "You in there, Charlie?"

The door swung open inwards and a black man with a shaved head peered outwards suspiciously. He appeared to be in his late twenties to early thirties, and was currently brandishing a switchblade. He looked at Vanessa. "Oh," he said. "It's you."

He retracted the switchblade and looked at her. "Well?" he asked. "What do you want?" His tone indicated he was mere seconds from pulling the switchblade a second time.

"How's your dad?" she asked. Warren glanced at her, wondering what in the world was going on.

He scowled. "Still in hospital." Warren noticed that he spoke with a slight British accent.

Vanessa winced sympathetically. "Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. And they haven't found the thing that injured him, have they?"

Charlie's scowl deepened. "No, the bastard ran off before they could catch it."

Warren raised a hand, and the two looked at him as if just noticing he was still there. "Who's he?" Charlie asked Vanessa quietly.

"What's going on?" Warren asked.

She sighed. "I suppose some introductions are in order. Charlie, this is my partner, Warren Burgess. Warren, this is Charlie Trask."

Charlie waved a hand. "Please, just call me Trask. Everyone else does." he said, and held out a hand. Warren shook it hesitantly, still not sure where this interaction was going to end up going. Trask seemed a little volatile.

"So," Trask said, turning to look at Vanessa. "What's the purpose of this social call?"

"Don't I wish I knew," Warren muttered. Trask chuckled.

"Maybe I just wanted to say hello," she pointed out.

"Then why didn't you call? And we both know you don't just drop in to say hello." Trask folded his arms. "Come on. What's really going on here?" he asked.

Vanessa sighed. "Fine. The Captain says he wants you to join up with the Knights. Not that I don't enjoy just talking to you."

Trask's face closed off. "No," he said, and started shutting the door of his food cart.

Warren stuck his foot in the door and grabbed the handle. "Hold on a second. I have no idea what's going on but I think you should definitely hear her out."

Vanessa shot him an indecipherable look. "Thank you. Anyway, the Captain wants you to join up. We could really use someone with your particular," she paused, "talents."

Trask opened the door and sat down on the stoop. He grinned humorlessly at her. "So. The Captain wants me to join his super secret club, does he? Well, you can tell him I'm not interested."

"It wasn't really a request," Vanessa muttered. 

Warren cut in. "Well, do you really want to work in a food cart the rest of your life? Not," he added hastily, "not like there's anything wrong with that, I'm sure the food is great. But don't you want to do something more with your life?" he urged.

Trask chuckled. "It's not that easy. You see, I know what it's like to have family members in this organization. I know what can happen. Why d'ya think my dad's lying in a hospital bed?"

"You could avenge him," she added. "Wouldn't that be worth it, to get back at whatever hurt him?"

A conflicted look passed over his face. "I don't know, " he said. "I guess it would feel good."

Vanessa nodded. "I understand. You can take some time to think about it. Just give me a call when you've made a decision, all right?"

"Sure," he replied, and she started walking away, Warren a few steps behind her.

"So, what was the purpose of that exercise?" he asked

She shrugged. "We were actually supposed to recruit Trask." She paused for a moment, allowing Warren to catch up. "Shit. I hope he doesn't say no. I could get in so much trouble for that."

"Not what I was asking. What I mean was, why did you bring me along? You could have done this by yourself, easy."

Vanessa looked at him. "You're pretty useful. And besides, maybe I enjoy your company."

And there was really nothing he could say to that, Warren reflected as he tried, once more, to catch up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come visit me on Tumblr at thewanderingreveur.tumblr.com or vanessa-the-narcoblix.tumblr.com! I love hearing from you and will do my very best to respond to your thoughts in a timely manner. Unless my crap laptop crashes. Then I make no promises.


	9. Steal My Heart (And Other Valuable Things)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warren decides that Vanessa needs a proper appreciation for Valentine's Day. Until a robbery gets in the way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is so late; I am sorry. It has been almost a month since Valentine's Day. Anyway, yeah. Here we go.

“What on earth are you wearing?” Vanessa deadpanned, staring at Warren, who was wearing, for some reason, pink heart shaped sunglasses and had drawn a heart on his wrist in thick black marker.

Warren whipped off the sunglasses, grinning cheekily at her. “It’s Valentine’s Day. What, did you forget or something? Where’s your pink?”

She groaned. “You’re not one of those people who goes absolutely nuts over Valentine’s Day, are you?” She held up a hand. “Wait, no. Please don’t answer that question.”

“What,” Warren said, his eyes wide. “Are you one of those unnatural people who doesn’t like my favorite holiday? Are you a Valentine Grinch?” He stared at her. “Come on, you’re Italian. It’s from your own country, for crying out loud!”

“So is the mafia,” she said dryly, “but you don’t see me talking like a gangster and shooting up places, do you?”

Warren considered that for a moment. “Well, that’s debatable. The shooting places up, thing, anyway.”

Vanessa smirked. “I’m gonna kill ya, see, for bringing up that holiday, carn sarn it,” she said in a serviceable Al Capone impression.

Warren laughed. “Okay, that’s kind of creepy. But why do you not like today?”

She shrugged. “It’s a consumer holiday designed by the greeting card and chocolate industries. Plus it’s so unbelievably corny.”

He gasped as if she had physically wounded him. “It’s about love, you absolute monster! Not chocolate. But I accept your challenge. By the end of today, I’m going to get you to like Valentine’s Day.”

“Um, no. I never agreed to this or actually challenged you, so no. You won’t be getting me to like anything. Bye.” And with that, Vanessa turned and began to walk away down the street. Honestly, the odds of them meeting like this were absolutely astronomical.

Warren grabbed her shoulder and she froze. “Please move that,” she said coolly.

“Come on,” he asked, removing his hand. “At least give me a chance to show you cool things about today. I promise, if you hate it, we can stop whenever.”

Vanessa turned around and groaned, rolling her eyes. “Fine. But this had better be worth my day off,” she warned, looking like she meant it.  
Warren couldn’t contain a grin from spreading across his face. “It will be, I promise,” he gushed.

“I still reserve the right to bail on you at my own discretion,” Vanessa said, a look of unwilling amusement on her face. 

“Yeah! Right, okay. Let’s go” Warren offered his arm, which she took hesitantly.

“So, what are we doing?” she asked, fiddling with the buttons on her jacket. 

He laughed uncomfortably. “I have no idea. I didn’t actually think I’d get this far.” Vanessa raised an eyebrow as if to remind him that she would and could leave at any time. “But I have plenty of ideas, I swear.”

“Never said you didn’t.” Vanessa frowned and hugged her arms to her chest. “Jeez, it’s cold out here. I’m starting to regret not wearing warmer clothes.”

Warren looked concernedly at her. “Here, take these,” he said, pulling off his scarf and hat. He handed the scarf to her and put the knit hat over her hair, then surveyed his work.

Vanessa examined the red scarf. “This is nice,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Where’d you get it? I don’t see a tag.”

The tips of his ears went an interesting shade of pink. “I made it,” he muttered. She looked questioningly at him. “I made it!” he said, louder. “I swear to god, if you start laughing, i will break into your apartment and release drumants or something.”

Vanessa’s eye twitched as she wrapped the scarf around her neck. “I am not laughing,” she said, very solemnly. “I would never laugh at a knitting sword fighter who threatened to release drumants into my home. You do know those are poisonous, right?”

He smirked. “That’s why it’s fun, Vanessa. So, have you heard anything from the Knights?” he asked as they continued down the street.

She shook her head. “Nope. Apparently evil has taken the day off. That or East’s just decided we can’t be trusted and is lulling us into a false sense of security while he plans our demises.”

Warren frowned. “That would be unfortunate. I’m going to go with the first option.”

“So, where are we going? Not that I don’t trust you, I just want to be sure you aren’t leading me into the den of a drug ring or a gang or something.”

“First the Mafia, now gangs and drugs? My, we certainly are on edge today.” She laughed. “Nah, it’s a surprise. You’ll just have to wait and see,” Warren singsonged.

***

“Well, at least it’s not Starbucks,” Vanessa mused. “I’d have been pissed if you dragged me to Starbucks. This isn’t going to be crap coffee, is it?”

“Don't’ malign this haven of coffee shops,” Warren said grandly. “This is the best coffee in the city. You have no idea how many terrible cups of coffee I swilled before I found this Eden.”

Vanessa nodded, clearly unimpressed. “Here,” he said, “let me prove it to you.” Warren walked up to the counter, smiling, and called out to the short Hispanic man standing behind it. “Hey, Benny,” he said.

Benny looked up from where he was fixing a blender and grinned. “Hey, man,” he replied. “Thought we scared you off. You haven’t been in for a few weeks.”

Warren glanced over at Vanessa. “Yeah, I was out of town recently.”

Benny turned and wiped his grease stained hands on his apron and turned his blinding grin at Vanessa. “And who’s this?” he asked.

“My, um, friend Vanessa.” He leaned in and whispered melodramatically. “She doesn’t like Valentine’s Day.” Benny’s expression turned horror stricken. “I know. So, can you maybe make her a drink? I think this partially stems from a lack of caffeination.”

“I’m standing right here,” Vanessa reminded them.

Benny snapped and pointed at him. “On it, brother. Just give me a minute to fix this mother-freaking machine.” He slapped the blender with the flat of his hand, and it roared back to life. Vanessa jumped, and a moment later Warren’s hand was on her upper back.

“It’s fine, it’s just the blender,” he said. She stared at him for a long moment with wide eyes before pulling away and walking over to look at one of the paintings hanging on the wall.

Warren glanced over at Benny, who wriggled his eyebrows suggestively. “So, you like this girl?” he asked.

“Shh!” Warren hissed, looking back at Vanessa, who appeared not to have heard him. “He leaned in closer to the counter.

Benny raised his eyebrows. “What, are you afraid she’ll castrate you if she hears you?”

He huffed out a laugh. “You say that like you’re joking, but with her I think she’d actually do it.”

His eyebrows disappeared nearly into his hairline and he whistled. “Where’d you find this girl again?”

“I work with her.” 

Benny nodded and went back to the coffee machines. “Let me put it to you this way, man. You’re taking this girl around the city, on Valentine’s Day, doing date-y things, and you don’t think there’s even a little bit of something going on here?” He plunked a travel cup of coffee down on the counter and wiped his hands again.

Vanessa swooped in out of nowhere and snatched up the cup. She took a tentative sip. “Damn, that’s good,” she commented, and reached for her pocket to pay.

“Oh, no,” Benny said. “It’s on the house.” She nodded gratefully and glanced at Warren, and the two linked arms and walked out. 

“So, where to now?”

He rubbed his hands together and said excitedly, “We’re going ice skating.”

Vanessa stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, earning more than a few glares from passers by. “You did not just say that. That is so unbelievably cliche, Warren.”

“It’s fun,” he defended himself.

“Are you getting all your ideas from that pile of crappy rom-coms you’ve got in your apartment?” she asked, hands on her hips.

“No,” Warren protested. “Can we continue?”

Vanessa’s lips twisted into a grim smile. “Do let’s.”

***

She stood precariously on the ice, arms flung out wide to keep her balance. She scowled almost endearingly, and Warren had to keep himself from snickering.

“What?” Vanessa demanded, not looking but focusing on her feet.

Warren looked at her, instantly serious. “What? Nothing. Do you need help with,” he gestured vaguely at her, “do you need help with that?”

“Yes,” she bit out from between clenched teeth. She wobbled, and her arms pinwheeled, but Warren grabbed her shoulder.

“There,” he said, smiling. He took her hands and began skating backwards, pulling her with him and allowing her to get her bearings. “That’s not so bad, is it?”

“Better than a kick to the ribs,” she muttered, still looking downwards.

Warren’s lips quirked. “Yeah, but how do you not know how to ice skate? I thought everyone could do that.”

“Well,” she huffed, “we can’t all be Olympic figure skaters, I’m afraid. Nothing would ever get done.”

“No, seriously. What kind of childhood did you have?” he joked.

“A shit one,” Vanessa replied in exactly the same teasing tone. Warren frowned but didn’t comment, unsure if she was kidding or not. “How did you even learn to do this?”

“Well, Dale and I grew up on this big old farm in the middle of nowhere, and it was near a pond. So every winter, we’d go out and skate after school. I did, anyway. Dale didn’t really like it, not after,” he cleared his throat and grinned humorlessly. “Hey, you wanna hear a joke?”

“Oh, god, no.”

“Where did Napoleon keep his armies?”

“Nope.”

“Up his slee-” Which was when the tip of his skate caught on a rut in the ice and he fell backwards, taking Vanessa with him. Warren landed flat on his back, all the air leaving his lungs in an explosive whoosh.

“You’re the one who’s supposed to be good at this stuff,” Vanessa commented, her hair falling in her face. She blew a strand out of her face and straightened her hat, pushing herself to a kneeling position. 

“You’re sort of right,” he agreed, getting to his feet and offering her a hand up. “But you’d think they’d maintain this rink a little better, though. That could have been dangerous.”

Vanessa laughed. “No kidding. Maybe we should aim for less potentially dangerous activities now, before one of us gets a concussion.” She frowned. “Damn, I’m hungry. I knew I should have gotten groceries.”

“I know just the place,” Warren interjected, pointedly ignoring her protests.

***

So lunch was actually going pretty well until someone decided to freaking rob the place. “They’d ordered food, and it didn’t seem like Vanessa was going to throw her drink in his face and storm out.

Not like that had ever happened. Definitely not. Janice.

Warren was just wondering whether now was a good time to sneak in a pun when, out of the blue, gunshots rang out from the doorway of the Chinese place they’d finally agreed on.

As the people around them screamed and panicked, Vanessa just groaned, pushing her hair back from her face “This is my day off,” she complained, then took another bite of her moo goo gai pan.

“Nobody move!” the man in the doorway shouted. The entire room froze. The man was small and compactly built, so Warren thought he could probably take him if it came to that, but then there was the fact that he was holding a Glock up in the air like he meant business. That could be a bit of a problem.

Vanessa took another bite of food and stared unconcernedly at the man, who had just taken notice that she was the one person in the room not obeying his commands. The man stalked over to the table, inspecting his gun the whole way there. He held it up to Vanessa. “You like?” he asked. 

“It’s a nice gun,” she said calmly. “Very efficient. Very pretty.” 

He pressed it against her temple and turned the safety off. “How about now?”

Vanessa swallowed a bite of food. “Still efficient, but less pretty by virtue of me not being able to see it.” Warren’s eyes widened.

His finger tightened on the trigger, and Warren’s heart stopped. “Now?”

Vanessa smiled crookedly at him. “You know, one of the perks of being friends with the DA is that you get to learn so much about the law. For instance, did you know that it’s very hard to win sympathy from a jury for something like killing someone?

The man turned the gun to Warren, and he thought he saw something in her eyes harden. “Same goes for him,” she snapped.

The man glanced at her. “Oh, I don’t have to shoot,” he said, and punched Warren with his free hand, knocking him backwards.

Vanessa was out of her chair in a second, one hand knocking the gun out of his grip and the other in a vise grip around his throat. “Here’s some advice for you,” she hissed. “First of all, don’t try to rob a building in broad daylight.” She flung her hand at the window, where it was clearly the middle of the afternoon. “Second of all, don’t attack the partner of the deadliest person in the damn room.” She knocked him out with a swift punch, and he crumpled to the floor.

She looked up at the other patrons. “Well? Somebody call the cops.” Then she went back over to the table and crouched next to Warren, who was inspecting the side of his head with his fingertips. “Hey,” Vanessa said. “I thought I was kidding about the concussion.”

He frowned. “This is not how lunch was supposed to go. Sorry, I’ve probably ruined Valentine’s Day irretrievably for you.”

She hauled him to his feet. “Nah, it wasn’t that bad. I had fun.”

“Really?”

“Really. Now let’s get out of here before the cops show up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um, yes. Warren makes horrible jokes. I could not resist that one. And this will be getting angsty real soon. You have been warned.


	10. Sick Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am so irredeemably late.
> 
> Apologies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we discover that narcoblixes are not immune to illness and other life threatening maladies.
> 
> (Oh my god, no worries. It's just fluffy sick fic.)

Warren Burgess didn’t find himself burdened with a lot of free time. He tended to be busy fighting evil and delivering newspapers as a part time job. What could he say? Evil didn’t seem to take a day off, like, ever.

It just so happened that that day was one of the rare few in which he’d finished his round and not been called in to kill things, and Warren intended to make the most of this rare opportunity. He dug through his stack of movies, eventually settling on Mulan. Warren popped the disc into the DVD player and leaned back on his beat up couch, resting his head in his hands.

Which was, of course, when his phone buzzed.

Warren sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, glancing at the screen. He groaned. Why was Vanessa calling him? For God’s sake, it was his day off.

He flipped the phone open and pressed it to his ear. “Yes?” he said wearily. “Has some magical creature escaped again? Did a golem step on your car?” He paused, and a long silence stretched out between them. “Hello?” he asked.

“Hey,” Vanessa finally said, almost in a whisper.

“Hey,” Warren replied. “What’s the matter? Are you okay?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” she stammered.

He tilted his head to one side. “I didn’t say anything was. Do you need me to do something for you?” he asked.

“No.”

Warren raised an eyebrow. “Okay, well, I’ll see you around then.” He hung up and stared at the TV, reaching for the remote. He paused, groaned, then pulled on his hat and coat and headed out the door.

He arrived at Vanessa’s apartment building 20 minute later, stiff with cold and wishing he’d thought to bring gloves. He rubbed his hands together and hit the buzzer to her apartment. No one answered.

He pushed it again, and finally someone answered. “Who is it?” Vanessa asked.

“It’s me,” Warren replied. Her voice sounded odd, he thought. Sort of hoarse, which just cemented in his mind that something was the matter. He held up a bag, with takeout containers in it. “I brought Chinese food. Want some?”

He got a sigh that came across as a crackle of static. “Warren, this really isn’t a good time.”

Warren waved the bag in front of the camera, grinning. “Come on, Nessie. I brought you takeout. Takeout and my love.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“I walked twenty minutes to get here. I’m not gonna leave until you let me in.” He waited, and the door opened, finally. Warren went up the stairs and a few minutes later, he knocked on the door and she opened it partway, peering around the door.

Vanessa looked tired. Really tired. The skin under her eyes was dark and baggy, her hair was tangled, and the tip of her nose was bright red. Her eyes were bright and glassy. Warren stared. “Are you...sick?” he asked.

Her forehead scrunched up. “No.” The sentence was punctuated with a rough, hacking cough.

“You’re definitely sick,” he decided.

She glowered at him, and it was actually kind of funny how sad of a glare it was. “I’m not sick.”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Why are you here?” Vanessa snapped.

Warren laughed aloud. “I hate to break it to you, Minivan, but I don’t exactly have a social life at all. It’s not even like a faint possibility.”

Vanessa frowned. “Minivan?”

He grinned expectantly. “Because your name’s Vanessa?”

Her scowl returned. “Oh my god, why am I even friends with you, you giant dork.”

“It must be my stunning good looks and proclivity for finding good ethnic restaurants.” Warren folded his arms across his chest. “Now, come on. Let me in.” Vanessa rolled her eyes, but complied. Which was smart of her, he thought. She knew him well.

Vanessa’s apartment was a mess as well, Warren noted. Boxes of medication were strewn over her counter, a mug of coffee sat next to her laptop, and the drapes were shut tight. “You didn’t have to bring food,” she muttered.

“Or you could just say thank you like a normal person.” Warren set the bag down on the table and folded his arms, staring at her. “Well?”

She turned to look at him. “Well, what?”

“Have you even taken any medicine yet?”

Vanessa shrugged. “No. I’m not sick, I don’t need any medicine.” She picked up the mug of coffee and took a long sip, closing her eyes. Which was when he noticed the dark circles underneath them.

“Have you slept?”

She frowned. “Who sleeps?”

Warren groaned. “Oh my god, Vanessa, I know you blixes or whatever probably don’t have to sleep as often as us peons, but you do have to rest some time.” He pointed at the couch. “Go lay down.” Vanessa didn’t move. “I swear, I’ll sit on you if it’s what I have to do to get you to get some sleep. I will have no mercy.”

“But I’m not tired.”

He folded his arms. “If you don’t get some rest, I will call East right this second and let him yell at you for getting yourself sick. I swear to God, Vanessa.” He fished his phone out and held it up threateningly. “I’m going to count down from ten.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, fine.” She sat on the couch and glared at him. “Happy?”

“No, because you interrupted my Disney movie marathon, and I was really looking forward to that on my one day off this month.” Warren searched through the boxes of medication littering the table and picked one up, squinting to read the fine print.

“I didn’t ask you to come,” she muttered.

“Oh, now that’s cold,” he said with an easy grin. Warren filled a cup with water and went over to the sofa on which she sat, holding out a gel cap. “Take this, please.”

Vanessa took the capsule and dry swallowed it, then burst into another coughing fit. Her frame shook, and Warren was considering calling 911 when she finally stopped. She looked up and attempted a wry smile. “Well,” she said. “Wasn’t that delightful.”

“Ah, yes. I too enjoy watching my partner nearly choke to death,” Warren deadpanned. “Anyway, since I didn’t get my Disney marathon at home, I insist that we watch a movie now.” He leapt up and searched through her DVDs. “You have Hunchback? Excellent.” He popped it into the DVD player and sat down next to her on the couch, pulling up a blanket. Vanessa glanced at him with something akin to fondness. “What?” he said, turning the TV on and going to the menu screen. “I like Disney. So sue me.”

Around the time Frollo started singing about his lust for Esmeralda, Vanessa had fallen asleep, her head resting on his shoulder. Warren smiled. Success.

She woke up as the credits were rolling, shoving hair out of her face and rubbing her eyes blearily. “Shit. I fell asleep.” Vanessa pulled it back and tied it up with a ponytail holder.

Warren stretched. “Nah, you’re good. I was almost there a couple of times as well.” He pushed the blanket down. “All right, time for more medicine.”

Vanessa groaned as Warren bounded off the couch and back to the counter. “No, god, not again, have mercy!”

He pulled out another capsule. “Oh, look, here we are.”

“Why are you even here?” she asked, looking as if she was in physical pain.

Warren sat. “Where else would I be?”

And as it turned out, there was really nothing to say to that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for the return of the Sphinx.


	11. The Return of the Sphinx

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Sphinx returns, Trask gets threatened, and Vanessa really just wants to buy some lettuce.

The Sphinx was, generally, a very patient man. He’d waited centuries for his plan to open Zzyzx to come to fruition, and now that he was so very close, he was beginning to, well, not worry. He was far too put together to worry.

Part of the problem was that he still hadn’t effectively infiltrated the Knights of the Dawn, to his extreme annoyance. And he still hadn’t managed to bring over anyone who was actually competent. That Santoro woman was still being damnably elusive, and it almost pained him to think of the incredible lack of skill inherent in the other people he worked with. Honestly, if he wanted anything done, he had to do it himself. It was ridiculous. And Nagi Luna was absolutely no help, always trying to trick him into letting her out of the circle of confinement, as if that was ever going to happen.

The Sphinx tapped the arm of the chair and sipped a glass of pear juice while the beginnings of a smile appeared on his face.  
***  
See, one of the things that gave Vanessa trust issues was people following her around in grocery stores. She was pretty sure it wasn’t because they thought she was going to steal something (it wasn’t like she was glancing around shiftily every five seconds like the teenager a few aisles down, honestly, it was like he was asking to get caught shoplifting) but she’d become distinctly aware of someone trailing her throughout the corner store, ducking every time she glanced back.

Vanessa sighed and inspected the nearest head of lettuce, trying to see if it was too soggy for her liking. Being followed around was just irritating. How did this kind of thing even happen? She was off the grid! She was so off the grid, her secrets had secrets. She hadn’t actually turned to see the person’s face, but she’d caught glimpses of what they looked like. She’d seen he was a man, at the very least. He was wearing a dark jacket and jeans, for instance. Not that that would be much help if she ended up getting grabbed and thrown into the back of a van. 

Her fingers strayed to the hilt of the throwing knife hidden in her jeans. She glanced around. The only other person in the produce aisle was the man following her, and it didn’t look as if anyone would be coming soon. So she crept up behind the strange man and held the knife to his throat, locking her arm around his neck.

“Why are you following me?” she snarled.

The man froze and held up his hands. “Hold on, it’s fine, I’m one of you,” he said. Vanessa paused for a moment. That voice sounded very familiar. 

“All right,” she said. “On the count of three, you’re going to turn around so I can see your face. One. Two. Three.” She loosened her grip on him, and he turned. Vanessa relaxed, her shoulders sagging visibly. “Oh. Hey, Trask.”

Trask gave her an irritated look. “Was it really necessary to threaten me with a dagger in the middle of a grocery store?”

She sheathed the knife and scowled. “Hey, I wasn’t the one suspiciously following around a poor, innocent person who happens to be trained in several forms of hand to hand combat. I’d say you had it coming.” Vanessa folded her arms. “What are you doing here, anyway? And when did you become a Knight?”

He shrugged. “You were the one who chased me down and pressured me into joining.”

She sputtered. “Excuse you, I didn’t pressure. I talked to you, and you decided to join all on your own. There was no coercion here.”

“Anyway,” Trask continued, “I joined up, regardless of prior influences. And I was supposed to deliver a message to you. I wasn’t just planning on following you around all day, you know.” He looked disgusted, as if doing such a thing was physically beneath him. “I do have standards.”

“Oh, that’s reassuring. What’s the message?”

“Hold on, I’m supposed to ask you a question first. You know, to make sure that you’re actually you and not a stingbulb or something.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes to heaven, as if to ask why God let bad things happen to good people. “Why do we keep doing that? I mean, if I’m a stingbulb or I’ve gone over to the Society, I’m still going to be able to answer whatever question you’re going to ask me. I do specialize in magical biology, you know.”

Trask gave her an unimpressed look. “Can we get on with this? I haven’t got all day to listen to you whine about policy.” He took her pointed look as affirmation. “What’s your middle name?”

“Lucretia,” Vanessa said, somehow managing to make the name sound like a curse. “What’s the message?”

He tutted. “So impatient. You’re to meet with the Sphinx this afternoon. 3 o clock, in front of the Bean.” Trask tossed a red scarf at her, which she caught nimbly. “You wear that so he knows who you are, and you don’t tell anyone else about this.”

“Is Warren going?” she asked, inspecting the fringe of the scarf.

Trask paused. “No. The Captain only wants you going to this. And by the way, if you get killed, can I have your laptop?”

“What the hell, Trask?” She glared at him. “Is that everything? Will I be expected to learn German by this afternoon as well? I’m a busy person, you know. I can’t just drop everything to dance attendance on the Sphinx.”

He tilted his head to one side. “Vanessa, you never go anywhere. I know.”

Vanessa eyed him. “Being East’s personal assistant has made you vaguely terrifying, did you know that?”

“That’s the point,” he said cheerfully, then turned and walked away. “Try not to offend him,” he tossed back over his shoulder, clicking his heels together as he walked down the aisle. “I hear he’s getting horribly testy these days.”

“Oh, that’s just excellent. Just wonderful,” she muttered, and went back to inspecting the soggy heads of lettuce with a lot more force than was strictly necessary for the task. “I hate going out.”  
***  
Although it was an otherwise pleasant March day, it was still rather chilly when one was out near the lake, Vanessa mused. She huddled in her longest coat, the red scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. One hand was shoved into her pocket; the other clutched a travel cup of steaming hot coffee. She took a sip and walked to the railing, overlooking the ice rink. Quite a few people were out skating.

Vanessa checked her watch. It was nearing three, so she made her way back through the crowd to stand in front of the Bean, facing the lake. She shivered. Why had she decided to move to Chicago? It was so horribly cold, especially in the winter.

Somewhere nearby, a clock began to chime the hour. That was good; she might be out of the cold soon, if the Sphinx ever showed up She glanced around, looking over the faces of the small crowd. No one here looked particularly notable to her. Certainly no one looked like a man who was rumored to the avatar of an actual Sphinx, who had apparently been around for centuries. Although she knew firsthand that appearances could be deceiving.

She nearly jumped out of her skin as someone put a hand on her shoulder. Vanessa turned slowly to look at the person, and stared. If this guy was centuries old, he certainly didn’t look it. He was a man who looked to be in his late twenties to early thirties, with dark skin and eyes that looked back at her solemnly. He had a veritable mop of dreadlocks, and he was dressed in a three piece suit.

“Vanessa Santoro?” he asked in a light tenor.

She shook herself. “The Sphinx, I presume?”

He inclined his head with a smile. “It’s a pleasure. I worried that you might not be able to make it on such short notice; I do apologize for that inconvenience. I do try to notify people of meetings more than three hours in advance in more ordinary circumstances.”

Vanessa flushed. “It’s not a problem. There’s nothing I was planning to do today, in any case.” She smiled. “One of the perks of working with the Knights of the Dawn, in most cases we're getting paid to do nothing.”

The Sphinx threw his head back and laughed, a melodic sound that caught the attention of a gaggle of teenagers nearby. “You’re funny, Miss Santoro. I wasn’t expecting you to be funny.” He grinned at her, his teeth a flash of white in the sun.

Vanessa ducked her head, trying to keep herself from grinning in return. She felt almost giddy, what was that about? She hadn’t eaten anything bad in the last few days. When she regained control of herself, she spoke. “So, what exactly is the purpose of this meeting?”

The Sphinx’s expression suddenly became much more cautious. “Well, you see, I need a favor. I asked for you specifically because I’ve heard great things about your work in the field.” He leaned in close to whisper in her ear, and Vanessa found herself shivering. “I’ve discovered evidence of traitors within the Knights of the Dawn.”

“Who?” she murmured.

“That’s the problem. I don’t know who they are, which is why I need you to help me. All I’m asking is that you keep an eye out for anyone who would have the skill set and inclination to go over to the Society of the Evening Star, and give me their names. From time to time, I might ask you to go out and deal with certain people who are a danger to the Knights.” The Sphinx paused. “You wouldn’t be able to tell anyone about this. Not even your partner.” He straightened and pinned her with a surprisingly hard gaze. “Do you understand?”

Vanessa’s breath hitched. “I understand. And I’ll do it.” She was reluctant to disappoint the man. This could be her chance to prove herself. Maybe she could move up in the Knights and effect reform in some of their more outdated procedures.

He broke into a fond smile. “Excellent. I knew I could depend on you, Miss Santoro.” For some reason, her heart was racing in her chest, what the hell was up with that? Was she getting sick?

He pulled out a phone and held it out to her. “If you would be so good as to program your number into this?” Vanessa took it from him and punched in her phone number, feeling absurdly nervous. She handed it back to the Sphinx, who gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry that you’ll be doing anything wrong,” he said. “I’ve cleared this with the Captain, and he agreed that this is all above board. Now, you may be on your way. I’ll send you more specific instructions later on this week. Good afternoon, Miss Santoro.”

“Call me Vanessa,” she blurted, not quite sure where her sudden outburst had come from or why it was suddenly so important that the Sphinx called her by her first name.

His answering smile was blinding. “Vanessa.”

Vanessa gave a little wave and headed away from the Bean. She frowned. It was freezing outside, why were her cheeks so warm? As she headed back to the street and the nearest El-train station (she’d given up on getting her car fixed, damn it, and just decided to use public transit), her phone buzzed in her pocket twice. She pulled out and read the two messages.

Unknown Number: So delighted to be working with you.

Unknown Number: This is the Sphinx, by the way.

Smiling like a fool, she saved his number to her phone and tossed her now empty cup into a nearby trash can. Finally she’d be doing something meaningful in the organization. Finally she’d have a chance to make real change for others like her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N-Wow, I finally managed to update this in a reasonable time frame! Yay Hannah! So, obviously important stuff has started to happen in this chapter; the Sphinx has begun to interact with other humans, so beware. As Vanessa says in Book 5, he’s very good at working to his best interests while wearing a friendly face.
> 
> And yes, for those of you wondering about that one scene in Book 5 where Vanessa and Bracken out each other’s crushes to the group, I’m laying the groundwork for that right now. Because the Sphinx is super fun to write, and I need more of him in my life. And also, he and Warren are such great foils for each other, it gives me life.
> 
> Come visit me on Tumblr, I would be more than happy to scream about the wonder that is Fablehaven with you.


	12. In Which Warren, As Usual, Jumps to Entirely the Wrong Conclusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There are shenanigans, Trask borrows a shovel, and the Sphinx becomes intimately acquainted with Vanessa's clothing (but probably not in the way you're expecting)

In Which Warren, As Usual, Jumps to Entirely the Wrong Conclusion

Vanessa had been acting odd lately, Warren had noticed. There was occasionally something, well, shifty about her demeanor, like she was hiding something from him. Not that he expected her to tell him every little thing about her life, but there were things he needed to know.

But then, Warren considered, he didn’t really know all that much about Vanessa for all they were partners and had gotten each other out of life or death situations several times now. He trusted her, and Warren hoped that Vanessa trusted him in return. But still, why was she acting so odd? She was moodier than usual, and she kept getting texts at official functions, once in the middle of a stakeout.

Maybe this was some sort of weird blix thing, every few months you had to go through this period of intense secrecy and crankiness.

Of course, Vanessa was always sort of cranky, so Warren couldn’t put much stock into her mood swings and hey, he was pretty sure that a lot of blixes were fairly secretive. You know, given the whole pitchforks-and-torches thing if you happened to give yourself away.

Maybe she was dating a guy. Or a girl, whatever worked for her, he wasn’t judging her and her potential hypothetical girlfriend.

Warren couldn’t explain why, but he swore his chest tightened at the thought of Vanessa going out on dates.

Because she could end up outing herself and then they’d both get in trouble and also, there were really creepy guys out there, okay? And ladies too, he was sure, but mainly guys. He was just worried about her welfare.

The getting in trouble thing, that was definitely the reason he felt odd. 

Definitely.

“Okay, you know what, moving on,” Warren said as he looked into the window, trying to put his hair into some semblance of order. Warren scowled at his reflection, contemplating getting a buzz cut.

He manhandled it into something vaguely respectable (really, Warren didn’t even know why he tried anymore) and headed out to do his route.

And of course it was pouring, because apparently the universe had just decided to exact some twisted form of revenge on innocent postal service workers. 

There were times Warren really hated his job.  
***  
“Shit!” Warren yelped as the tires of his bike skidded through a puddle, spraying his legs with water and more importantly, making him tumble headf over heels off his bicycle, landing sprawled in the middle of the bike lane. No one stopped to help him, which was just what he’s come to expect from Chicago.

He picked himself up, dusting the grit from his clothes and taking a look at his bike. The tire was punctured, of course, because that was just his luck.

Well. He could see that he wasn’t making it through his route or back to his apartment on his bike, and there was no way he was lugging the thing home in the rain.

Sighing, Warren began walking his bike down the sidewalk and towards Vanessa’s apartment.  
***  
Fifteen minutes later, bone tired and soaking wet, not to mention glowering at his shoes, Warren slapped the buzzer to Vanessa’s apartment.

The door opened after a few seconds, thank god, and he slogged up the stairs, leaving a trail of water behind him. Warren rapped on the door.

Vanessa opened it after a minute and looked at him, quirking an eyebrow and shifting her weight from foot to foot. “So,” she said, “What happened to you?”

“Bike crashed,” he said sourly. “You were closest. Can I come in?” She stepped aside and he entered, noticing a few mew animal cages on her counter. Warren took a closer look. “Fairies?”

She shrugged. “A girl’s got to have a hobby. I got Trask to enchant my fire escape. You know, so I don’t end up with a bunch of imps in the morning. Vanessa took a step closer. “Are you okay?”

Warren waved a hand. “Fine. Can I use your shower?”

“Sure. Leave your wet things outside the door and I’ll put them in the dryer for you.” Warren nodded and she ushered him towards the bathroom, then shut the door behind him, pinching the bridge of her nose and slumping against said door.

A moment later, the closet opened and the Sphinx poked his head out. “Is the coast clear?” he whispered.

Vanessa nodded. “Hurry up, will you? I don’t know how long he’ll be in there.”

The Sphinx headed for the door, then paused for a moment. He turned back. “You’re doing very well, Vanessa. I know it’s difficult to keep this from your partner, but trust me, it is necessary.” With that, he walked out and closed the door behind him quietly.

Vanessa sighed with relief and went to put Warren’s clothes in the dryer.  
***  
Warren emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later to find Vanessa glaring at her stovetop with no little amount of force. He froze, midway through toweling his hair dry.

“What’re you doing?” he asked warily. That glare was kind of terrifying.

She looked up, and her expression softened slightly as she shoved a steaming mug at him.

“What is this?” he asked, in exactly the same tone of voice. Warren sniffed it cautiously, suddenly acutely aware of the fact that he was standing in the middle of Vanessa’s apartment, wearing only boxers. 

Awkward.

Vanessa appeared to have come to the exact same realization, because she blushed furiously and looked downwards. “It’s hot chocolate,” she muttered. “I’ll go check on the dryer, then,” and practically fled.

Um.

She returned a few minutes later and tossed his now dry clothing at him, then went to clean up the pots on the stove. And then there was a knock at the door.

Vanessa threw up her hands, muttering under her breath. She opened the door, and on the other side was Trask, holding a shovel. She groaned, then walked away, shouting, “What is it, Show Up at Vanessa’s House Unannounced Day?”

Trask shrugged and peered around the door. “Hey, Warren,” he said, clearly trying to hold back a laugh. “How’s it going?”

Her voice came from the other room. “He used my shower and that’s all, get your mind out of the gutter, Trask!”

Trask grinned and held up one hand in surrender. “I didn’t say anything.”

She came back, holding a wrench, and traded it with the shovel. “Try not to break your plumbing next time, Trask. Or maybe call ahead before you come over.” He saluted and shut the door.

Warren took a sip of hot chocolate and started putting the rest of his clothes. “Well, I should probably get going,” he said. “I’m sure you’ve got things you need to do,” he said, pulling his shirt over his head.

Vanessa looked up. “Oh, it’s no bother. And I can’t let you go out in this weather,” she said, gesturing towards the window. He followed her gesture and saw that, outside, it was raining even harder than before. Warren winced.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said.

She regarded him contemplatively. “Why don’t you stay until the rain stops?”

He looked back at her. “Okay,” Warren said. He would wait out the storm with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N- So yeah, I would really like to know what that was like, when Vanessa and the Sphinx were chilling and then Warren shows up and she just shoves him in the closet like, “Stay there!” That must have been a really interesting conversation. 
> 
> And it’s interesting, how I usually update after I’ve gone to my grandmother’s house. Possibly because it’s so dull there, and she has no wifi, so I’m almost forced to be productive. Yay for me. 
> 
> But yeah, come find me on tumblr at pretentiousandfrench.tumblr.com! I will say hey if you say hey.


	13. In Which Everything is a Metaphor for Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, Trask, Warren's a couple of inches taller than you, and I'm willing to bet a good bit stronger, and a couple hours ago, I had him writhing on the floor as I attempted to choke him out with my thighs,” Vanessa said dryly, noting that Trask's face had suddenly gone very pale. “You should consider that, Trask. You should consider how grumpy I get sometimes.”

“Again,” Vanessa demanded, holding her rapier at the ready position and taking grim pleasure at the beads of sweat dotting Warren's forehead.

“How long do we have to do this?” Warren groaned, still laying on the floor of the gym.

“Until I'm convinced you can hold your own in a real fight,” Vanessa snapped. “Now get up. A real opponent would have beheaded you by now, and I'm starting to lose my patience.

Warren let out a sigh but climbed to his feet, giving her a baleful look. “A real opponent wouldn't jump me from behind and try to strangle me using just their thighs. Aren't we supposed to be practicing with swords, anyway?” He picked up his rapier and settled into a fighting stance.

“We are,” she replied with a smirk. “I was getting bored.”

Warren rolled his eyes, but charged her, giving blow after blow in a flurry of motion, but Vanessa matched each with a block. She waited. Eventually he would get in too close and-oh, there he went. He rushed her again, and Vanessa tossed her rapier aside, grabbing him at the waist and flipping him over her shoulder. Warren landed with a heavy thud on the flat of his back. She snatched up her sword and kicked his away, laying the tip of the rapier at his throat.

“Ouch,” Warren said, and propped himself up on one elbow. “So, what exactly is the purpose of this exercise, other than to point out all the possible ways I could lose in a fight?”

Vanessa shrugged. “Good practice for you. Gives you some experience with what a real fight is like.” She grinned. “Plus it's really funny for me.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled as he got to his feet. “A real fight. You know, I would beat you in a fair fight, easy, if you didn't insist on throwing me all over the place.”

She swung the rapier in an experimental arc. “Well, that's not much incentive for me to fight fair, is it?” Vanessa picked up his rapier and tossed it to him. “Again. And this time do try not to just charge into it. Actually pay attention to what I do.”

They both readied themselves and this time, Warren didn't attack. Vanessa took a cautious step to the side, and he mirrored her.

“Good,” she allowed, and continued moving. “Now, why do I keep winning our fights?”

Warren rolled his eyes. “Are we fencing or talking about my personal failings?”

She snorted. “Both. Why?” then aimed a blow at him. Warren barely dodged it, and Vanessa took another step to the left.

“You're obviously better than me?” Warren tried, but Vanessa shook her head.

“That's part of it, but why am I better than you?” She jerked her chin towards his feet. “Your shoe's untied; you might want to fix that.”

Warren stooped to tie it, and Vanessa jumped onto his back, legs wrapping around his waist and rapier pressed up against his throat. Warren froze, and she hopped down easily.

“You let your guard down too easily,” she said quietly. “Not everyone is going to play fair, especially not me. Not everything is going to be black and white, and you definitely won't know who your enemies are all the time. It's a big, bad world out there, and it'll swallow you whole if you aren't ready for it.”

Warren was watching her, an oddly intense look in his eyes. “Not everyone is out to get you, Ness,” he replied.

Vanessa sighed. “What did we say about the nicknames? I thought we had an agreement about the nicknames.”

He rolled his eyes good naturedly. “Yes, yes, I know. One of these days I'm going to wear you down on that, but today is clearly not my day. Are we done her? I get it, the world is an awful place filled with awful people.” He waited a moment, ostensibly for a response, but received none. “Right. I'm going to take a shower.” He turned and headed out, slinging his gym bag over one shoulder.

“One day you'll understand,” Vanessa said to the empty room, before picking up the rapiers and heading out after him.  
***  
When Vanessa got home, the door to her apartment was slightly ajar. Well, that was a little worrying. She pulled a can of pepper spray out of her purse and eased the door open, trying to make as little noise as possible. She peered into the gap, holding her breath.

The Sphinx looked up from where he was sitting at her kitchen table and nodded at her. “Ah, do come in,” he said, looking for all the world as if she was sneaking into his house and not the other way around. Vanessa put the pepper spray back into her bag and pushed the door open, walking in and kicking her shoes off before padding over to the table.

“What's going on?” she asked. “How did you get in here?”

The Sphinx waved a hand. “Your neighbors are very helpful. I told them that I was trying to surprise you and they buzzed me up. And your lock is very easy to pick.” He at least had to grace to look a little ashamed. “Sorry about that, by the way. I wasn't sure when you'd be back.”

Vanessa let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. “Oh. So, what's happening?”

He held up a folded piece of thick, creamy stationery embossed with a golden crest. “I have an invitation here for a gathering of some of the finest, most trusted members of the Knights of the Dawn. Sort of a soiree, and I'm told some members are bringing their apprentices. It's not an official meeting, which explains why you were not invited.” He hesitated. “Had it been, I have no doubt you would have been first on the list of members to be invited.”

Vanessa did not blush. She didn't, and anyone who said differently was delusional.

“The gathering is tonight, and I have no doubt that many traitors will be there.” The Sphinx handed her the invitation. “I cannot attend, and so I need you to go in my place, and collect as much information as you can. If there are those who would do us harm, I need to know who they are.” The Sphinx met her eyes. “Can I depend on you to do this for me? I would consider it a great favor.”

Vanessa opened the invitation and studied the contents. “Just me?” she asked.

“Just you,” he replied.

She pursed her lips and considered. “All right, it wasn't like I had anything to do tonight anyway.”

The Sphinx rubbed his hands together, a wide smile on his face. “Excellent,” he said. “I'll be in contact in the next few days to discuss what you learn.”  
***  
Vanessa only owned a few items of clothing she would consider fitting for a party of this kind. In her line of work, fancy clothing only got in the way and was more likely to get you killed than anything else. Not that she intended to dress to impress in that way. Vanessa knew that most people wouldn't be fooled, anyway. So she dressed in a pair of dark jeans, hiding a couple knives underneath them, then put a maroon shirt on top of that, and laced up her combat boots. She quickly traced the edges of her eyes with eyeliner, then put on mascara.

She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and almost didn't recognize herself.

Vanessa grinned fiercely at her reflection and picked up the invitation. It was time.  
***  
The party/gathering/whatever this thing is is held at what is widely reputed to be the Captain's home (or one of them, depending on which of the rumors you're listening to.)(Point: Vanessa makes it a goal to be listening to all of them.) It is an elegant building, all glittering glass and warm golden lights bracketed to the walls. The place emanated a feeling of welcome, a thin veneer of hospitality that just barely hid the pragmatism underneath. (Case in point: the torches hanging on the walls that give the place such nice ambiance are electric. Vanessa notices these things.)

Vanessa hated it instantly.

Although, to be fair, it did fit rather nicely with what she knew of the Captain. He was clearly a very charming man, able to keep all the clashing personalities together in a fairly cohesive unit. And certainly, he talked a good game, always saying at events how proud he was of their organization, but at the last meeting, he might as well have signed the death warrants for those two Knights. And yes, Vanessa knew very well that they were traitors, but that wasn't the way to go about things. She was no saint, but that was no way to go about things.

Of course, a lot of what she supposed she knew about the Captain was probably nothing more than hearsay. The Knights were an incurably chatty bunch when apart, even more so when together. Half of what she thought she knew was probably outright fabrication.

Still. This house was pretty much a confirmation of everything she'd heard.

Vanessa looked up at the front door, doing her best to look unimpressed. The tall, perfectly white door was guarded by two exceedingly muscular people with scowls on their faces, which was not terribly encouraging. Shut up, she scolded herself, People are counting on you. She took a deep breath and headed towards the front door, stopping just short of the guards.

“Name,” the woman said, sounding unbelievably bored.

Her partner elbowed her in the side. “Mara. We talked about this. Try to at least be pleasant, and if that's too much for you, aim for not outright hatred.”

Mara sighed. “Zack. Really?”

“Vanessa Santoro,” Vanessa said, and Mara ran a finger down the clipboard she held, checking the list of guests, no doubt. She handed her invitation to Zack, who pursed his lips as he inspected it.

“Mara,” he said distractedly, “Don't bother with the list. Special invitation.” He winked at Vanessa. “Someone got a special from the Captain. My, my, we are making our way up in the world, aren't we, Ms. Santoro?”

Vanessa smiled a tight lipped smile. “Indeed,” she said, taking back the invitation and stuffing it into the pocket of her jacket. As she walked through the door, her mind was whirling with questions. Her invitation was from the Captain? But the Sphinx had given it to her himself just that afternoon. Something was off about this, and Vanessa intended to find out what it was if she had to hunt the Sphinx down herself and pry the answer out of him.

“Vanessa!” a voice called, and she snapped to attention. Trask was standing a little ways away, inside the foyer, an angry looking teenage girl with improbable eyeliner standing beside him, her arms crossed. Vanessa tilted her head to the side and crossed the distance between them in a few steps.

“Trask,” she said. “I didn't know you'd be here. How've you been? How's the food cart?”

“Oh, I got fired,” he replied. “Once I joined up with the Knights, I didn't really have time to be doing that anymore, and my boss didn't really like me in the first place. But I work at a restaurant now, in the kitchen, so it all worked out.”

She nodded, then glanced at the teenager, who was blowing a bubble with her gum. “Who's this?” she said politely.

“Apprentice, sort of,” Trask said. “Say hello, Elise.”

“Hello, Elise,” Elise drawled, managing a particularly impressive eye roll.

Trask sighed. “Elise,” he said, managing to sound both chiding and disappointed at the same time. “This is Vanessa Santoro, one of our best Knights and a good friend of mine,” he continued. “So try to be polite.”

Vanessa raised her eyebrows questioningly at Trask. “They trusted you with an apprentice? Color me surprised.”

He laughed. “Speaking of that, how's Warren doing? You haven't gotten him killed yet, have you? Or, I don't know, petrified? Paralyzed?”

“You know, Trask, Warren's a couple of inches taller than you, and I'm willing to bet a good bit stronger, and a couple hours ago, I had him writhing on the floor as I attempted to choke him out with my thighs,” Vanessa said dryly, noting that Trask's face had suddenly gone very pale. “You should consider that, Trask. You should consider how grumpy I get sometimes.”

Elise raised a hand and pointed at Vanessa. “Um. Can I switch to her? Because that's kind of awesome, and she sounds a lot cooler than you.”

“If you are very, very polite and well behaved tonight, I will consider teaching you how to throw people,” Vanessa said, eyes still locked on Trask. “Now, shall we go in?” She started walking down the hall, the other two following her.

“Pay attention to what she does,” Trask said. “Vanessa is very good at this.”

They made their way down the foyer and into the main hall, which was already crowded with people. Vanessa recognized the majority of them, but every so often she spotted someone she hadn't yet met with. Every time that happened, her eyes narrowed and she spent a few seconds trying to memorize their face for future reference.

The main hall was clearly designed to impress guests, and even Vanessa had to admit she was a little staggered by the sheer opulence. A large, crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling, casting thousands of flashes of light across the floor. The room was filled with round tables swathed in white where people sat, eating and talking and laughing.

“Do you know why we're here, Elise?” Vanessa said, her voice much more calm than she felt.

The girl frowned. “To build unity?”

She couldn't help herself, Vanessa actually laughed aloud. “Christ, Trask, where did you find this kid? I haven't heard that since the first time I took Warren to one of these.” She took a breath. “No. We're not hear to build unity. People may tell you that's why we're all here tonight, and some of them might even believe it, but that's not why we're here. Tonight is about power. This is a show of force from the higher ups. These are some of the best people in the organization, and they're all here in one room. This is management flexing its muscles.”

“Vanessa,” Trask chided, “that's not all this is about.” He turned to Elise. “A lot of what she says is true; tonight is probably a show of power. But it's also a display of unity for us, a chance to show that even in the face of betrayal, we stand strong. The Society is always going to be a presence in our midst, but that doesn't have to stop us from trusting each other.”

Vanessa chuckled. “My esteemed colleague is perhaps a little idealistic as well. Tonight is also about information. If you have the best of the best in a room together, you can bet that they'll be sounding each other out, trying to gather as much information as they can. We're a notoriously chatty group, and tonight is no exception.”

Elise frowned. “So what should we do?”

She shrugged. “Talk to people. It should be easy for you, you're new and no one knows who you are. You haven't made any enemies. Spit out your gum and smile, and nod along, and remember names and faces and what people are saying. And above all, try to listen more than you speak.” Vanessa waved her hands expressively. “Now go, young padawan.”

Trask raised an eyebrow as Elise headed off into the crowd. “Young padawan?” he asked, his tone disbelieving.

“I think Warren's rubbing off on me,” she said, pinching the bridge of her nose. “So, really, how'd you get assigned a trainee already? Didn't you just join up a little while ago?”

Trask shrugged. “Well, for one thing, I'm actually sort of likable.” He elbowed her gently. “So there weren't a whole lot of people who could say anything against me, unlike a certain person we're both acquainted with.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, do shut up,” she said. “Anyway, I have actual work to be doing tonight, so I'll let you get to whatever it was you were doing. Standing around. Being not useful. You know, things about your speed.” Vanessa winked as she walked off into the crowd.

Say what you would about this Captain, his list of guests was extensive and he certainly know how to throw a party. Vanessa managed to snag a few of those fancy little snacks that waiters in pristine suits were carrying around on silver trays. She had a feeling she might need some sustenance before the night was over. Just look at all those people! And she was expected to extract meaningful information from them?

Calm down, she told herself. You can do this. She had to be able to do this, people were counting on her to do this and do it right. Vanessa just needed to start with one person. That was it. If she just started with one person and got that done, she could handle anything else the evening threw at her, she knew she could.

It was just a pity that she didn't know anyone here.

Sighing, Vanessa headed back towards Trask, who was fortunately standing in the exact same place as he had been earlier. The man raised an eyebrow as she approached.

“Back so soon?” he asked.

“I am forced to admit that on occasion, your knack for getting to know people comes in handy.” Vanessa hesitated. “I need you to introduce me to someone.”

Trask muffled a snort. “Anyone in particular?”

Vanessa waved a hand airily. “I don't care. Anyone. Someone who'll know something interesting. Do what you want.”

“That's about four completely different directions,” Trask commented. “All right. Someone who'll know something interesting. I can do that. Probably.” He pointed out a small group of people standing near a table. “Try them, all right?”

Vanessa shrugged and headed towards the group, composed of two men and a woman, all about her own age. She stopped just short of the woman, who turned, seemingly sensing her approach. “Oh, hello,” the woman said. “I'm sorry, can I help you with something?”

She feigned nervousness, not that it was particularly difficult. “Sorry, it's just that I don't really know anyone here, and you all looked, well, not like you were going to eat me alive if I came to talk to you, so hello, I'm Vanessa Santoro.”

The woman laughed. “Oh dear, they are a rather stuffy bunch, are they not? Of course you can talk to us, darling.” She smiled. “My name's Lucy Hale.” Lucy glanced at the two young men. “Well, boys, go on and introduce yourselves.”

The first one, a young man with dark skin and eyes, rolled his eyes. “I'm Javier,” he said, “Lucy's the boss, in case you had any doubts about things.”

“Yes, thank you, Javier,” Lucy said.

The other young man, wearing a frankly ridiculous suit along with a top hat, started. “Oh! Sorry, I got distracted by something.” He smiled. “I'm Errol Fisk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N-So yeah, Errol Fisk is Vanessa's henchman from book 2, if you all don't recall. That's okay. I really don't expect you people to share my encyclopedic (and frankly bordering on obsessive, it's fine, I'm fine, really) knowledge of minor characters from this series. Also, Javier is from Lost Mesa, as are Zack and Mara. Elise is Warren's buddy; she shows up at a couple of points in the series.
> 
> I don't really want to have to explain who the other characters are. If you've made it this far not knowing who they are, I admire your persistence but really, it's time to read the source material. Please.


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